From Iraq to New York, a Busy Week for Islamic State Group
Little known to the wider world 18 months ago, the Islamic State extremist group has muscled its way into the international spotlight by carving out a self-declared caliphate in the heart of the Mideast, beheading its opponents and foreign journalists, and attracting radicalized youth as far afield as Paris, London and New York.
The militants' once seemingly unstoppable push across Syria and Iraq has slowed to a crawl in recent months as the United States, its Arab allies and even rival Iran work to roll back the group and ultimately defeat it. Despite those efforts, the extremists show little sign of crumbling under the weight of international efforts to crush it.
Here's a look at what happened this week involving the extremist group and the fight against it:
SYRIA AND IRAQ: KIDNAPPING CHRISTIANS AND SMASHING ANCIENT ARTIFACTS
In northeastern Syria, the militants swept through several villages and seized more than 220 Christians from their homes over a three-day stretch beginning around dawn Monday. The onslaught also forced thousands of people to flee to nearby cities. The fate of those kidnapped, almost all of them Assyrian Christians, remains unclear. The abductions have compounded fears among religious minorities in both Syria and Iraq, where the Islamic State group's fighters have repeatedly targeted minorities, killing them, driving them from their homes, enslaving their women and destroying their places of worship.
In northern Iraq, meanwhile, the militants took sledgehammers and drills to smash ancient Mesopotamian statues and other artifacts in the city of Mosul, including a winged-bull that dated to the 7th century B.C. The destruction, documented in a video posted online, is part of a wider campaign by the extremists to eliminate anything that they view as heretical. UNESCO's director general, Irina Bokova condemned the destruction, calling it "a deliberate attack against Iraq's millennial history and culture" and "an inflammatory incitement to violence and hatred."
LONDON TO SYRIA: THREE SCHOOLGIRLS LEAVE HOME TO JOIN THE MILITANTS
The long reach of the Islamic State group was felt in London this week with the news that three teenage girls had left their families with the apparent intent of joining a friend who already was with the extremists in Syria. It was another indication that IS had at least some appeal to a small number of Britons who may believe propaganda videos posted online about the building of a caliphate in Syria and Iraq.
The CCTV photos of casually dressed Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, leaving London's Gatwick Airport on a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul captivated Britain for days. The girls' distraught families issued urgent, tearful pleas imploring the girls to turn back once they arrived in Turkey rather than entering Syria. Prime Minister David Cameron warned that every school and college in Britain needs to play a role in stopping people from joining what he called "an appalling death cult."
The search proved fruitless. London police said Tuesday that their information indicated the girls had successfully crossed into Syria, where they are thought to have linked up with the Islamic State group. Officials say 500 to 600 Britons have traveled to Syria to help the militants, with an increasing number of young women showing an interest in the group.
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From Iraq to New York, a Busy Week for Islamic State Group