Islamic Extremists Slaughter 15 Soldiers in Northern Iraqi City
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BAGHDAD
— Fighters from a Sunni extremist group attacked an army unit in a
northern Iraqi city on Tuesday, killing 15 soldiers in a rampage of
beheadings, shootings and a hanging, security officials said.
The
strike on the army unit in Mosul by members of the Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, showed how the group has moved beyond Anbar
Province, west of Baghdad, where it controls Falluja and parts of
Ramadi, and extended its reach into territory throughout the country.
On
Tuesday, the ISIS extremists drove up to the army unit, which was
deployed to secure an oil pipeline that links Iraq and Turkey, in more
than a dozen sport utility vehicles, bent on slaughter. They beheaded
five soldiers, shot nine dead and hanged one on a wall, torturing him to
death, the officials said.
The
authorities said that it was becoming more common for large numbers of
ISIS extremists to carry out deadly raids and bombings in areas outside
Anbar Province as the army of the Shiite-dominated government tightens
its cordon there for offensives against ISIS and other Sunni militias.
In
some areas of Mosul in particular, government forces are not in
control, while the militants have also thrust into provinces north and
east of Anbar.
ISIS and other Sunni extremist groups have also launched increasing episodes of attacks on civilians in Baghdad.
“Because
of the pressure those terrorists are having in Anbar, many have escaped
into Mosul, and Salahuddin and Diyala Provinces, as those provinces are
safe areas for the terrorists,” said Juma Ibrahim, a member of
Parliament’s security committee. “It is also a way to distract the
security forces.”
Iraq’s
prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, has said gunmen who were not
involved in shedding Iraqi blood in Anbar would be given until Friday to
retreat.
Up
to 300,000 people have fled the conflict in Anbar in the past six
weeks, moving to outlying areas in the province or migrating to other
parts of Iraq, taking refuge in schools, mosques and other civilian
buildings, according to a statement from the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees. It said United Nations agencies continued to
receive reports of civilian casualties there.
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