Tensions quickly rose when more moderate Sunnis clashed with ISIS over the Al-Qaeda offshoot's strict interpretation of Islam and rejection of national borders.Īhmad al-Zarghosi, a local government official who fled Saadiya, told Reuters he estimates that 90 percent of the population has moved north since fighting broke out between the Naqshbandi Army and Islamic State militants earlier in the week. Saadiya was overrun on June 10, the same day as Mosul, one of Iraq's largest cities. With the help of the Naqshbandi Army, ISIS overran northern cities and vowed to continue on towards Baghdad to establish a true Islamic State. Islamic State in Iraq and Syria insurgents in Iraq have carried out mass executions, abducted women and girls as sex slaves.
The Islamic State relied heavily on support from Sunnis hoping to overthrow Prime Minister Nourial Maliki's Shiite government during their initial offensive in June. ISIS war crimes in Iraq include mass executions, sex slavery, UN says. Local residents who discovered the bodies confirmed they were Naqshbandi fighters, and blamed ISIS for the killings, according to reporting from ABC News. The Sunni radical group is seeking to establish a fundamental Sunni state in Iraq and Syria and is targeting Shiites, who are the majority in Iraq. There are also reports of hundreds of civilians being rounded up and executed by the militants. The killings, which appeared to be executions, represent a growing divide between ISIS and other Sunni insurgents, particularly the Naqshbandi Army, a group believed to be led by former Sadam Hussein deputy Ezzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the only top member of the dictator's entourage that has not yet been captured or killed since the U.S invasion in 2003. ISIS previously released photos of mass executions of Iraqi soldiers and security troops. The bodies of 12 men were found in the Iraqi town of Saadiya, north of Baghdad on Monday, as infighting between Sunni insurgents intensifies and threatens the Islamic State's advancement on Baghdad.
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