An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir February 2015 www.dfmagazine.ie 20 | IN A by PAUL O'BRIEN D uring the summer months of 2014, a lightening strike by Islamic militants in northern Iraq forced the country's armed forces into a retreat that soon became a rout. Thousands of soldiers and civilians fled the onslaught and evacuated Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, as the army of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known by the acronyms ISIS, ISIl, and IS, seized the area in a vicious assault. The hardline Sunni jihadist group, which formerly had connections with al Qaeda, has occupied large swathes of Iraq and Syria, plundering across borders and occupying strategic towns and villages. As the armed insurgents swept through the region they announced their intention to re-establish an Islamic caliphate, and declaring Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the caliph. This declaration has huge significance as it asserts Abu Bakr as the rightful successor to the prophet Muhammed (caliph comes from 'kalifah', meaning 'successor') and the spiritual leader of all Muslims, wherever they live. It also high- lights the group's aim of uniting all Muslims into one nation, ruled in accordance with their strict definition of Sharia law. During the 2003 to 2011 conflict in Iraq, ISIS 'liberated' large stockpiles of weapons from the armouries of former dicta- tor, Saddam Hussein. These included armoured vehicles, guns, surface-to-air missiles and explosives. Using these weapons in their recent advances into Iraq and Syria, the ISIS fighters have managed to seize even more up-to-date weapons and equipment that had been supplied by the US to the new Iraqi state. The ISIS forces clearly value the importance of mobility, with pick-up trucks ferrying soldiers into the war zone and with vehicle-mounted heavy and medium machine-guns supplying some anti-aircraft cover as they advance. Estimates of the size of ISIS's forces in the region vary widely, from tens of thousands to 500,000. Intelligence reports state that experienced former Iraqi army officers are working with the group, giving them a military advantage over Kurdish fighters and the newly established Iraqi armed forces. All reports agree that there are thousands of foreign fighters within the ranks of ISIS, a state of affairs that is prompting many countries to implement stricter laws in relation to their own nationals who travel to Syria or Iraq to join the group. ISIS's rapid advance through northern and central Iraq, which has also encroached on Kurdish territory, has sent the region's non-Sunni minorities, including Shia, Christians and Yazidis, fleeing as reports of fierce fighting and massacres emerge. This has created an enormous humanitarian crisis as thousands of men, women and children seek safety. An Cosantóir February 2015 www.dfmagazine.ie A masked Shi'ite volunteer, who has joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants of ISIS. © Reuters/Stringer A member of the Kurdish Peshmerga guards an oil refinery on the outskirts of Mosul. © Business Insider This map shows the growth of ISIS throughout northern Iraq and western Syria. This map is current as of 6/12/2014.

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