ISIS continues to terrorize Iraq, Syria

ISIS militants carried out several deadly attacks in Iraq and released a video showing at least 25 men, allegedly Syrian regime troops, being executed in the ancient city of Palmyra by children



Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militants, despite the U.S.-led coalition strikes and resistance of several local powers, continue to terrorize the region. Besides carrying out temporary attacks in different parts of the world, such as in Tunisia and Egypt by accepting the allegiance of various radical groups, ISIS continues to fight against the Iraqi government, Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq and rebel forces in Syria. ISIS on Saturday released a video showing 25 soldiers, allegedly loyal to the Syrian regime, being executed by teenagers in the ancient amphitheater in the city of Palmyra. The video documents an execution that reportedly happened shortly after the group captured the city on May 21.It shows soldiers in green and brown military uniforms being shot dead on the amphitheater's stage in front of an enormous version of the group's black and white flag. The executioners all appear to be children or teenagers and are wearing desert camouflage and brown bandanas. The killings are carried out in front of a relatively sparse crowd of men and some children watching from the ancient theater's seats. ISIS reportedly carried out more than 200 executions, including of civilians, in and around Palmyra in the period when it captured the city. The executions in the Palmyra amphitheater were first reported on May 27 by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, less than a week after ISIS captured the city.ISIS suicide bombers on Sunday blew up an explosive-laden truck near a power plant that serves the northeastern city of Hasaka, the latest attack after their expulsion from most parts of the city, the Syrian army said. State television said a second attack, against a power plant that serves the southern districts of the city, was prevented, but the first had caused "material damage" and led to "casualties." It did not elaborate. The ultra-hardline militants continue to stage lightning attacks inside the city, although they were driven out of some districts after they mounted a major offensive that failed last month. That offensive attempted to capture the provincial capital of the oil and grain producing province of Syria. The city is divided into zones run separately by the government of President Bashar al-Assad and a Kurdish administration. The offensive was meant to relieve pressure on ISIS, which has given up significant ground recently to Kurds and some local Arab tribes backing them. The militants lost villages around Ras Al Ayn and the town of Tal Abyad northwest of Hasaka along the Turkish border.ISIS was very active in Iraq as well over the weekend. ISIS suicide bombers and fighters attacked the center of Iraq's northern oil refinery town of Baiji overnight, forcing the army and Shiite fighters to pull back, military sources and the local mayor said on Sunday. The town of Baiji and its refinery -- Iraq's largest -- have been a battlefront for more than a year. The militants seized the town in June 2014, as they swept through much of northern Iraq towards the capital Baghdad. Control of Baiji neighborhoods has changed hands many times during the conflict. The latest ISIS offensive comes after authorities said they controlled nearly the whole town and expected to drive insurgents from the refinery within days. The militants attacked on Saturday with two suicide car bombings. The blasts were followed by fierce clashes that lasted until midnight and drove the army and mainly Shiite Hashd Shaabi forces from the center of town, two army colonels said. Baiji Mayor Mahmoud al-Jabouri said there had been a pattern of withdrawals by ISIS fighters in the town followed by counter-offensives. "Their lethal weapons are suicide attacks and snipers, and this is why we have fighting back and forth." Army officers said the army and Hashd groups were preparing a response. "ISIS fighters are still holding positions in three neighborhoods in Baiji, and they are still receiving reinforcements," said one of the army colonels.Two car bombs killed 11 people in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Saturday, police and medical sources said, striking as many people were ending their daily Ramadan fast. One bomb hit the mainly Shiite Amil district in the southwest of the city around dusk, killing eight people and wounding 27. The other hit a bus garage in Doura in the south of the capital, killing three people. Northeast of Baghdad in the town of Balad Roz, a third car bomb killed two people, local police said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but ISIS fighters who control large parts of western and northern Iraq frequently set off bombs in the capital.While carrying out attacks in several areas, ISIS also had to deal with coalition attacks. U.S.-led coalition aircraft unleashed a series of airstrikes targeting ISIS's stronghold of Raqqa in eastern Syria, killing at least 10 militants and wounding many others, the coalition and the group said Sunday. At least 16 airstrikes were reported late Saturday and early Sunday, triggering successive explosions that shook the city and created panic among residents, activists said. The U.S.-led coalition often targets ISIS-held towns and cities in Syria, but the overnight strikes on Raqqa were rare in their intensity. In a statement issued early Sunday, the coalition said it had conducted 16 airstrikes throughout Raqqa, destroying vital ISIS-controlled structures and transit routes in Syria. "The significant airstrikes tonight were executed to deny ISIS the ability to move military capabilities throughout Syria and into Iraq," said coalition spokesman Lt. Col. Thomas Gilleran. "This was one of the largest deliberate engagements we have conducted to date in Syria, and it will have debilitating effects on ISIS's ability to move" from Raqqa.Raqqa is the de facto capital of the so-called caliphate declared a year ago by ISIS in territories it controls in Iraq and Syria. An ISIS-affiliated militant website confirmed the strikes on the center of the city, saying 10 people were killed and dozens wounded. It also published purported photos of dead victims, including two of young boys suggesting they were civilians. A Raqqa-based anti-ISIS activist network reported eight civilians were killed by the coalition airstrikes, including a 10-year-old child. The report could not be independently confirmed. The network, called Raqqa is Being Silently Slaughtered, said at least one airstrike targeted a group of ISIS members in the city center. Another targeted an ISIS checkpoint, while a third destroyed large parts of an ISIS-held brick factory in the city. The coalition regularly targets ISIS, which controls about a third of Iraq and Syria.