Most of Anbar province fell under ISIS control in January. Over the past week, the ISIS took control of Ninewa and most of Salahaddin province, as well as parts of Diyala province. Forward Operating Base Speicher, which once was a major US military hub in Salahaddin province, was reportedly seized by the ISIS during its southward push. Several Iraqi military bases are believed to have been overrun. The ISIS is said to have executed thousands of Iraqi soldiers during its southward advance to Baghdad. ISIS fighters then open fire on the unarmed prisoners of war. The ISIS fighters then order the frightened soldiers to lie face down in shallow ditches, with their hands behind their backs. Some of the ISIS fighters are seen holding US-made M-16 assault rifles, which had been issued to the Iraqi Army and police forces. In the photos, the Iraqi soldiers are rounded up at gunpoint and placed on flatbed trucks, some of which appear to have been captured from the base.
![isis execution isis execution](https://fort-russ.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/ISIS-execution-.jpg)
At least four Iraqi Army divisions are said to have melted away during the ISIS onslaught. Iraqi soldiers had reportedly shed their uniforms and deserted en masse as the ISIS blitzkrieg advanced from Mosul to Tikrit and on to the outskirts of Samarra in the course of one week. Most of the soldiers are in civilian clothes, but some are seen wearing civilian clothes over their uniforms. The ISIS photos show the capture, transport, and execution of scores of Iraqi soldiers. ISIS fighters are then photographed posing over the bloodied and mutilated corpses of the slain soldiers.
![isis execution isis execution](https://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2845449.1477593707!/image/image.jpg)
Tikrit fell to the ISIS earlier this week.Īfter capturing the base, the ISIS takes photographs of dozens of US-supplied armored Humvees, Ford and Chevy pickup trucks, and various military transport and supply vehicles that were left behind. The stream of photographs begins by showing ISIS fighters in dirt-caked pickup trucks with machine guns mounted in the beds traveling to Tasfirat prison in the city of Tikrit, and then launching an assault with dismounted troops. The ISIS has divided its “state” in Iraq and Syria into 16 administrative units, or wilayats. The graphic photographs were released today on the Twitter account belonging to Wilayat Salahaddin, or Salahaddin Division. Tracing this signature will, they hope, eventually lead to the identification of key figures possibly at the highest levels of the ISIS hierarchy – something which may just prove crucial in the fight still ongoing in Iraq and Syria.The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham’s administrative division in Salahaddin proudly displayed photographs of the capture and execution of Iraqi soldiers after it took over a base in the province. But while the work is professional, the analysts have noticed tell-tale inconsistencies within the footage that hint at the forensic footprint of a specific editor. ISIS’s media approach is central to propagating the message that it is unstoppable, Khan says. The analysts also say the executioners cleaned themselves up between the filming of execution and post-execution scenes, another indication of the work involved in producing the film. Already countless Twitter supporters are using the executioners’ photos as their avatars.” In a statement, the researchers suggested the fighters were probably willing participants because they would “enjoy international infamy, transforming them into social media heroes like ‘Jihadi John’ and rendering them valuable assets for future propaganda. The researchers believe the video was aimed at supporters, potential recruits, enemies and also the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The fact that they come from across the world is intended to convey the broad reach of ISIS’s self-proclaimed caliphate, Khan adds. She points out that the men represent a certain kind of aesthetic they are rather good-looking, clean and look as if they’ve done this before.
![isis execution isis execution](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/09/14/david-haines-is_sq-64cd419d464efe102813525725a669f9d788b551-s800-c85.jpg)
![isis execution isis execution](https://static1.therichestimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/ISIS1-1.png)
Khan says the executioners were chosen for their cinematic qualities, their appearance and their martial ability. The video was likely produced using Avid Technology, a state-of-the-art program which costs at least $200,000. She says the video would have had a director, producer and editor who may even have used storyboards like conventional film-makers. Veryan Khan, a researcher with TRAC has been analysing the video frame-by-frame. The killers are led by the figure known as “Jihadi John,” the masked British militant believed to be responsible for the beheadings of James Foley, Steven Sotloff, David Haines, Alan Henning, Peter Kassig and two unidentified Syrian soldiers. Virtually all the killers - of varying ethnicities and nationalities - are unmasked and potentially identifiable, although only one has been identified: Maxime Hauchard, a French convert to Islam.