The Islamic State (IS or ISIS) slaughtered hoards of Shi’a Muslims, Yazidis and Christians as they terrorized Syria and entered Iraq. Now, they are murdering Sunni Muslims, their own brothers in faith, who refuse to join their blood thirsty ranks.
The Islamic State (IS or ISIS) terror group, which is of the Sunni Muslim persuasion, has turned against its own, slaughtering dozens of Sunni Iraqis over the weekend.
CNN reports that IS has declared war against Sunni tribes in western Iraq and has begun to systematically annihilate them. They pulled men, women and children from their beds and publicly executed entire families without remorse.
IS’s apparent motive for their latest gruesome round of mass murder is the tribes unwillingness to yield to their rule.
CNN quotes a source in the tribe who said that at least 50 people have been killed. Other sources report that up to 200 tribe members have been massacred by the Islamic State.
The Albu Nimr tribe, who number in the tens of thousands, are ready to fight back against IS and retake their homes, a tribal leader told CNN. The city was seized last month by IS terrorists after weeks of fighting the tribesmen.
IS swept in from Syria, taking town after town in the western Iraqi province of Anbar. Albu Nimr tribesmen were among those who fought them until they began running of out weapons and supplies, CNN reports.
This latest spat of violence by IS constitutes a critical turning point in IS’s wave of terror, which has targeted non-Sunni Muslims until now including Shia and Alawi Muslims in Syria, and the Yazidi and Christian minorities in Iraq.
The US Discusses Further Support
Speaking to reporters this week, General Martin Dempsey, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, said that the US will aid the tribesmen in their fight against IS. “That’s why we need to expand the train-advise-and-assist mission into the … Anbar Province,” Dempsey said. “But the precondition for that is that the government of Iraq is willing to arm the tribes.”
“We are deeply concerned by reports of mass executions of Sunni tribesmen in Anbar province by ISIL and strongly condemn the brutal actions that ISIL continues to perpetrate against the Iraqi people…ISIL’s indiscriminate crimes prove, yet again, that it is targeting all Iraqis, regardless of faith or region,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Let’s discuss in the Comments below: What should the US and the world do to stop IS from continuing it’s murderous reign?
Author: Aryeh Savir
Staff Writer, United with Israel