Middle East Turmoil
ISIS militants steal $450M, advance on Baghdad
NBC News
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Heavily armed Islamist militants flush with $450 million
in stolen cash pushed toward Baghdad on Friday, sending thousands
fleeing in fear from the Iraqi capital.
Read MoreKerry: Expect 'timely decisions' from Obama on Iraq
Al Qaeda-linked insurgents who overran large parts of the north of the country earlier this week also seized about $450 million during a bank heist, Mosul Mayor Athier Nujaifi told NBC News. That makes the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) the world's richest terrorist group.
Read MoreKerry: Expect 'timely decisions' from Obama on Iraq
Al Qaeda-linked insurgents who overran large parts of the north of the country earlier this week also seized about $450 million during a bank heist, Mosul Mayor Athier Nujaifi told NBC News. That makes the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) the world's richest terrorist group.
Reuters
Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL) stand guard at a checkpoint in the northern Iraq city of
Mosul, June 11, 2014.
The Sunni fighters were reportedly only about 40 miles
from Baghdad on Friday. Drivers were charging Iraqis trying to leave the
city as much as $100 — many times the daily salary of an average Iraqi
worker.
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The U.S.-backed government was rounding up potential recruits, signing on anyone willing to go to fight against ISIS, a hardline group that has vowed to capture Baghdad.
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The U.S.-backed government was rounding up potential recruits, signing on anyone willing to go to fight against ISIS, a hardline group that has vowed to capture Baghdad.
American-trained and equipped Iraqi troops have been surrendering in droves — providing the ISIS militants with weapons, including Humvees once used by U.S. forces.
Read MoreWhy the widening conflict in Iraq has experts worried
An Iraqi soldier who surrendered to ISIS in Mosul told NBC News he was ashamed of his actions but was following his commanding officer's orders. Hussein al-Shiblie claimed that the officers in Mosul appeared to have a deal with ISIS.
Militants also marched into the towns of Saadiyah and Jalawla in the eastern province of Diyala after security forces abandoned their posts early on Friday, security sources told Reuters.
On Thursday, ISIS declared Shariah law was in effect in the areas they controlled, outlawed other forms of Islamic worship and ordered women to wear the hijab – a traditional Muslim head and body covering. They also declared that no other armed forces would be tolerated except ISIS.
Read MoreIraq burns again: What has sparked the fire?
Meanwhile, a United Nations official told Reuters that the number of people killed after ISIS militants overran Mosul may run into the hundreds.
Read MoreWhy the widening conflict in Iraq has experts worried
An Iraqi soldier who surrendered to ISIS in Mosul told NBC News he was ashamed of his actions but was following his commanding officer's orders. Hussein al-Shiblie claimed that the officers in Mosul appeared to have a deal with ISIS.
Militants also marched into the towns of Saadiyah and Jalawla in the eastern province of Diyala after security forces abandoned their posts early on Friday, security sources told Reuters.
On Thursday, ISIS declared Shariah law was in effect in the areas they controlled, outlawed other forms of Islamic worship and ordered women to wear the hijab – a traditional Muslim head and body covering. They also declared that no other armed forces would be tolerated except ISIS.
Read MoreIraq burns again: What has sparked the fire?
Meanwhile, a United Nations official told Reuters that the number of people killed after ISIS militants overran Mosul may run into the hundreds.
Signs pointed to the worsening sectarian and ethnic
tensions, with a representative of Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani urging people to take up arms and defend
their country from the insurgents.
Read MoreOil spike eyed as Iraq violence escalates
And in the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, Kurdish forces had moved in to take over posts abandoned by the Iraqi army.
end quote from:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101757191
—By NBC News
Read MoreOil spike eyed as Iraq violence escalates
And in the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, Kurdish forces had moved in to take over posts abandoned by the Iraqi army.
end quote from:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101757191
—By NBC News
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