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103 civilians killed by anti-IS coalition, including US aid worker: NGO

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Syrian rights NGO reports that Kayla Mueller is among the 103 civilians killed by the international coalition’s airstrikes

Syrian refugees are seen at an urban renewal area in the Suleymaniye neighborhood of Istanbul, Turkey on 1 March, 2015 (AA)

Syrian refugees are seen at an urban renewal area in the Suleymaniye neighborhood of Istanbul, Turkey on 1 March, 2015 (AA)

by Middle East Eye

A Syrian NGO on Tuesday claimed that the US-led international coalition’s airstrikes on the Islamic State and other groups in Syria has killed 103 civilians since its campaign started in September 2014.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights, or SNHR, report documented the names, photos, place and time of the deaths.

The report claimed that 11 children and 11 women, including an American national – the aid worker Kayla Jean Mueller – were killed by the airstrikes.

Islamic State announced on 6 February 2015 that Mueller, an American hostage and aid worker, was killed in a Jordanian pilot’s coalition airstrike on IS in Raqqa’s eastern countryside. Mueller’s death was confirmed by US President Barack Obama four days after IS’s announcement, although the US denied their claims, blaming IS for her death.

“No matter how long it takes, the United States will find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible for Kayla’s captivity and death,” Obama said in a statement on 10 February.

Mueller, 26, was captured on 4 August 2014 in the city of Aleppo, where she was en route with a Syrian friend to a bus station that would take her back across the Turkish border where she was based.

Mueller’s friend was released after a few months, but the Islamic State kept the young American aid worker prisoner. Some reports indicated that her family had received proof of life and a €5m ($6.6m) ransom demand.

Mueller’s parents received a private message from the White House, with additional information that was “authenticated” by intelligence, allowing them to confirm her killing.

Yet Carl and Marsha Mueller, speaking after the confirmation of their daughter’s death, provided no information regarding the details of her death, further fuelling speculation about the exact cause of her death.

The US has so far not admitted to killing any civilians, but has said it will probe a few specific allegations.

“Unfortunately, the coalition’s central command denies the deaths of civilians, although all the research contains testimonies, photos, videos and victims’ names,” Fadel Abdulghany, the head of SNHR said in the report.

A previous report by the network in December 2014 documented that at least 40 civilians had been killed by coalition airstrikes. Since December, at least 63 civilian deaths were documented, including three children and five women, leading to a total death toll of 103 civilians, the NGO said.

The coalition is conducting constant airstrikes on IS positions, infrastructure and projects. While coalition forces insist they are only taking aim at IS, there has been widespread concern that the strikes could be helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, the London-based NGO said.

The coalition has carried out numerous airstrikes against IS in Iraq and Syria since the militant group took over most of Mosul, in northern Iraq, in June 2014.

Boko Haram declares allegiance to Islamic State

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Video purportedly by leader of Nigeria group posted after female Islamists suicide bombers kill at least 50 in coordinated attacks in Maiduguri

The main gate to the Monday Market, Maiduguri, where a suicide bomb attack took place on Saturday. Photograph: Tunji Omirin/AFP/Getty Images

The main gate to the Monday Market, Maiduguri, where a suicide bomb attack took place on Saturday. Photograph: Tunji Omirin/AFP/Getty Images

by Daniel Boffey, The Guardian

Nigeria’s militant Islamist group Boko Haram has sworn allegiance to Islamic State, which rules a self-declared caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, according to a video posted online. The pledge came in an Arabic audio message with English subtitles alleged to have come from Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau and posted Saturday on Twitter, according to the SITE Intelligence monitoring service.

“We announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims … and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity, in hardship and ease, and to endure being discriminated against, and not to dispute about rule with those in power, except in case of evident infidelity regarding that which there is a proof from Allah,” said the message.

The video script identified the caliph as Ibrahim ibn Awad ibn Ibrahim al-Awad al-Qurashi, who is better known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State and self-proclaimed caliph of the Muslim world. Baghdadi has already accepted pledges of allegiance from other jihadist groups in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and north Africa.

Boko Haram has been waging a six-year military campaign to carve out an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

Earlier on Saturday, four bomb blasts killed at least 50 people in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri in the worst attacks there since Boko Haram militants tried to seize the town in two major assaults earlier this year. Female suicide bombers believed to be acting for the group launched a series of attacks in markets, while another detonation was reported at a bus station.

In a fifth incident, a car bomb exploded at a military checkpoint 75km outside the city, wounding a soldier and two members of a civilian defence unit. The attacker in this incident had wanted to reach Maiduguri, a police officer at the scene said. In total, it is believed 58 people have been killed in the incidents and 143 wounded, but both figures were expected to rise.

Maiduguri was once the base of the Islamist group, which has been conducting a campaign of violence pushing for Islamic rule in Nigeria. At least 13,000 people have so far been killed in the campaign. After being pushed from the city last year, the militants retreated to the nearby Sambisa forest, from where they launched attacks on villages and towns in the region, taking over swaths of territory.

Last month experts warned Boko Haram was likely to increase its attacks on civilian targets in response to the successful campaign by government forces to retake several of the group’s former strongholds.

The first attack on Saturday occurred at the city’s Baga fish market at around 11.20am, according to Abubakar Gamandi, head of the fisherman’s union in Borno state. “A female suicide bomber exploded as soon as she stepped out of a motorised rickshaw,” said Gamandi, who was at the scene. “Eighteen people were killed.” A market trader, Idi Idrisa, said: “I saw many bodies and several badly injured”.

About an hour later a second explosion rocked the Post Office shopping area near the market, leaving many casualties. A further series of bombs then rocked what is known locally as the Monday market, the biggest in Maiduguri, killing at least 15.

A trader there told the BBC that two other female bombers seemed to have targeted the market. One had a bomb strapped to her body that detonated as she was being scanned at the entrance gate, he said. Another woman was said to have exploded a bomb she was carrying in a bag a few feet away.

A fourth bombing came shortly after 1pm at the nearby busy Borno Express bus terminal, where witnesses said about 12 people were left either dead or injured. A survivor of the first blast said it occurred when a boy aged about 16 moved into a crowd by the gates holding what looked like a remote control. Security officials were about to stop the teenager when there was a blast. The witness said he was blown over by the impact and when he came to he saw at least six bodies.

A vigilante leader in Borno, Danlami Ajaokuta, whose civilian fighters have been working with the military in the region to fight Boko Haram, said security forces had ordered the closure of all businesses in the city given the apparently coordinated nature of the bombings and the fear there could be more. The state’s justice commissioner, Kaka Shehu, confirmed the attacks but declined to discuss casualties.

Last week, President Goodluck Jonathan said the tide has “definitely turned” against militant Islamists as Nigerian troops and their regional allies recapture territory.

Boko Haram has recently launched attacks on villages in Cameroon and Niger, as Nigeria’s neighbours are forming a multinational force to confront the spreading Islamist uprising.

Chad’s President Idris Déby last week said his forces knew the whereabouts of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau and warned him to surrender or face death. Shekau’s fighters are massing at a headquarters in the northeastern town of Gwoza, in apparent preparation for a showdown with multinational forces, according to witnesses who escaped the town. An intelligence officer told Associated Press that they were aware of the movement, but that the military is acting with care as many civilians are still trapped in the town and Boko Haram is laying land mines around it.

Nigeria’s presidential and parliamentary elections have now been postponed by six week to 28 March to give troops time to push back the militants. Shekau has vowed to disrupt the vote and widespread unrest, especially near polling stations, could prove disastrous. Hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict are living in Maiduguri, swelling the city’s population to well over two million.

ISIL fighters bulldoze ancient Assyrian palace in Iraq

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Reported demolition at Nimrud comes less than a week after video was released showing destruction at Mosul museum.

Winged-bull statues were placed at the gates of Assyrian palaces as protective spirits [Getty Images]

Winged-bull statues were placed at the gates of Assyrian palaces as protective spirits [Getty Images]

by Jane Arraf, Al Jazeera

Baghdad: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters have used a bulldozer to start destroying a 3,000-year-old Assyrian city near Mosul in Iraq, archaeologists and other sources have told Al Jazeera.

The demolition at Nimrud on Thursday comes less than a week after video was released showing ISIL fighters destroying ancient artefacts in a Mosul museum.

“They came at midday with a bulldozer and started destroying the palace,” said an Iraqi official in touch with antiquities staff in Mosul.

She said the winged-bull statues known as lamassu at the gates of the palace of Ashurnasirpal II had been smashed. It was not clear what else had been destroyed on the site, about 20km southeast of Mosul.

In last week’s ISIL video , fighters were shown using power drills and sledgehammers to try to destroy similar statues at the ancient site of Nineveh, within Mosul.

The mutli-tonne figures were placed at the palaces’ gates as protective spirits.

One source told Al Jazeera the fighters warned Mosul residents last week that they would move on to Nimrud next. Hatra, a World Heritage Site, is also believed to be in danger.

Since 2002, the World Monuments Fund has listed Nimrud as one of the world’s most endangered sites. The intricate stone reliefs, exposed to the elements, have been decaying. Without security around the site, it has been exposed to looters.

The palace belonged to King Ashurnasirpal II, who ruled a powerful empire that included Iraq, the Levant, lower Egypt and parts of Turkey and the Levant. The palace was built with precious wood, marble and other materials brought from the furthest reaches of his kingdom.

Nimrud, known as biblical Calah, is believed to have first been settled 7,000 years ago. At its height, up to 60,000 people lived in the walled city, which contained lush gardens and sprawling parks.

Mostly excavated by the British, with the finds taken to the British Museum, the most spectacular discovery was an Iraqi one.

In the late 1980s Iraqi archaeologist Muzahim Mahmood discovered a royal tomb containing one of the biggest finds of the last century – hundreds of pieces of golden jewelry and other objects belonging to an Assyrian queen.

Iraq’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on Thursday condemned the destruction at Nimrud, stating that ISIL “continues to defy the will of world”.

Don't refer to IS as 'Islamic,' urges Russian Council of Muftis

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Russian Grand Mufti Ravil Gainutdin in Moscow in December 2014

Russian Grand Mufti Ravil Gainutdin in Moscow in December 2014

by Joanna Paraszczuk, RFERL

The international community should not use the word “Islamic” when referring to the militant group Islamic State, according to the first deputy chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Rushan Abbyasov.

Abbyasov said that leaders of the Council of Muftis of Russia had joined representatives of several Arab countries in calling for the use of the word “Islamic” to be dropped when referring to IS in the media and elsewhere in public discourse.

Abbyasov made his comments in a live interview with Russia’s Vesti FM radio station ahead of a meeting in Moscow with diplomatic representatives of Yemen, Iraq, Palestine, Kuwait, Algeria, Jordan, and Sudan, pro-Moscow Russian news site RIA Novosti reported on March 3.

“We have arrived at this idea, that today we can try to neutralize these groups ideologically. At the minimum, we should remove the prefix ‘Islamic’ [from Islamic State],” Abbyasov was quoted as saying.

The Russian Council of Muftis deputy chairman said that the media and others should refer to thIS “just as [the militants] are positioning themselves — as terrorists, bandits, and radicals, but we should try to remove the prefix [of “Islamic”] that they have given themselves and which they are trying to play with,” Abbyasov told Vesti FM.

Abbyasov said he believed that dropping the term “Islamic” from the name of the militant group would have a significant impact.

“If the international community would not call them ‘Islamic’ then believe me, they can be destroyed ideologically,” he said.

Abbyasov recalled that a group of over 120 Muslim scholars had released an open letter to IS militants and followers recently.

The letter declared that the militant group’s ideology was “completely contrary to the essence of Islam,” Abbyasov said.

The letter, released in September 2014, used Koranic sources to refute the militants’ ideology.

Abbyasov said that the militants had taken elements of the Koran out of context.

“You can pull out any [Koran] quote out of context. To deal with the Koran, you don’t only need knowledge of Arabic, but of the many sciences that make it possible to reveal the full meaning of the verses and all the meanings that are inherent in the Holy Koran,” he concluded.

Abbyasov’s comments come amid increasing concerns in Russia about the threat posed by IS to the country’s security. Russia is not only concerned that Russian nationals who fight in Syria could return and commit terrorist acts on Russian soil, but also that the group’s ideology could prove a pervasive source of radicalization for Russian Muslims or Muslim foreign laborers from Central Asian countries.

Recent attempts to combat the threats Russia believes are posed by IS include a December 2014 ruling by the Supreme Court that deemed IS a terrorist group. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) included the IS group on a “unified list” of 22 terrorist groups published on its website last week.

As ‘Jihadi John’ is unmasked, counter-terrorism tactics must also be unpicked

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The man believed to be Mohammed Emwazi. PA

The man believed to be Mohammed Emwazi. PA

by Alan Greene, The Conversation

The unmasking of Islamic State militant “Jihadi John” as Mohammed Emwazi, a 26-year-old man from London, has raised new questions about the UK’s approach to counter-terrorism. As the media searches through his past for clues to explain how a “polite, mild-mannered young man” ended up as the chilling figure in horrific execution videos, it was revealed that Emwazi was known to security services before he left the UK.

It has been reported that Emwazi claimed he was harassed by security services to the point of filing a complaint with the Independent Police Complaints Commission over his treatment.

He had claimed that he was questioned by police in Tanzania when trying to travel there on holiday and was subsequently flown to the Netherlands, where he was interrogated by an MI5 agent. Upon returning to the UK, he said he was monitored by police and was prevented from leaving the country on several occasions.

He said that the surveillance and restrictions placed on him prevented him from finding work and damaged his relationships.

It should be noted that his claims may have been false or exaggerated. But they nevertheless serve to highlight the potential for counter-terrorist measures to have counterproductive effects – particularly if they target a specific minority group.

Heavy hand

The UK has past experience of counter-terrorist measures doing more harm than good. In Northern Ireland, at the height of the Troubles, tactics like the erosion of procedural rights, the use of arrest powers for information gathering purposes, and the use of internment without trial were deployed almost exclusively against Catholics.

Rather than helping in the fight against the IRA, this further strained the relationship between the security services in Northern Ireland and the Catholic minority, making some people more sympathetic to the IRA’s cause.

Today, David Anderson, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, is also aware of the damaging effects of counter-terrorist powers. When tentatively proposing the reintroduction of powers to relocate people placed under government control orders, he also stressed the need to assist those subject to a forced relocation to be helped to find work, training and housing.

Unfortunately, the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act was subsequently passed in 2015, giving the government the power to relocate people, but without evidence of Anderson’s more holistic suggestions also being followed. People can therefore be moved away from their home and connections and be left to reconstruct their lives without assistance.

The UK is aware that terrorism cannot be defeated exclusively by locking up convicted or suspected terrorists or restricting their rights to liberty and privacy. This can be seen with the case of Brusthom Ziamani, a 19-year-old former Jehovah’s Witness and Muslim convert who was recently convicted of planning an attack similar to the murder of soldier Lee Rigby.

Prosecution and a prison sentence were the last resort for security services in this case. Prior to this, they had sought to enter Ziamini into the government’s PREVENT “de-radicalisation programme”. A difficulty with PREVENT, though, is that it operates in a way that requires trust between Muslim communities, and local authorities and the police. If this trust is damaged it can instead be seen as a vehicle for surveillance.

Good existing relationships between communities and public bodies therefore are vital. If these relationships are damaged, this strategy can run into difficulties. Take Project Champion in Birmingham, for example. This saw more than 200 security cameras set up in predominantly Muslim areas between 2010 and 2011 – leaving locals feeling victimised and threatening legal action. Breaches of trust like this may live long in the memories of communities.

No excuse

Of course, even if Emwazi felt ostracised and victimised, none of this condones, justifies or excuses his horrific actions. However, taking a heavy-handed approach causes problems for the people being monitored. And as much as we might rail against that resentment being used as justification for violence, we must also face up to the fact that it may simply not be productive for people to have their lives stunted by counter-terrorism efforts.

After appalling attacks such as the Charlie Hebdo murders in France, we must remember not to vilify an entire group of people. Indeed many, if not most of those most hurt by IS are Muslims themselves. Since 9/11, there has been a fivefold increase in deaths from terrorism and the Middle East is the area most affected.

We must be careful not to paint all individuals of a minority with the same brush when a terrorist attack happens or when one individual is named as a murderer. We must also realise that ostracising a minority group, while at the same time expecting them to “uphold British values”, is woefully contradictory.

Alan Greene is a Lecturer in Law at Durham University.

The Conversation

Dozens of Christians abducted by ISIL in Syria

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Activists say at least 70 people seized after ISIL captured Assyrian villages from Kurdish forces in Hassakeh province.

Egyptian Christians mourn for 21 Coptic Egyptian killed by ISIL in the Libyan city of Sirte [AP]

Egyptian Christians mourn for 21 Coptic Egyptian killed by ISIL in the Libyan city of Sirte [AP]

by Al Jazeera

Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group have kidnapped dozens of Assyrian Christians in northeast Syria, according to activists.

The exact number of Assyrians missing remained unclear on Tuesday, with estimates ranging from 70 to 150.

The abductions were reported after ISIL fighters seized two Assyrian villages from Kurdish forces along the Khabur River in the province of Hassakeh on Monday.

The Syriac National Council of Syria, a group representing several NGOs inside and outside the country, told Reuters that it had verified at least 150 people missing, including women and elderly people.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 90 people had been abducted, while Nuri Kino, the head of an group called A Demand For Action, said between 70 and 100 Assyrians were taken captive.

About 3,000 people fled and have sought refuge in the cities of Hassakeh and Qamishli, he said, adding that his activist group based its information on conversations with villagers who fled the attack and their relatives.

“Have they been slaughtered? Are they still alive? We’re searching for any news,” an Assyrian Christian woman originally from the affected area who now lives in Beirut told the Associated Press.

The woman said she has been trying to find out what has become of her parents, her brother and his wife and their children, but could not reach anyone in the village.

The Assyrian Network for Human Rights in Syria said on its Facebook page that the fighters had moved the captives to the village of Umm al-Masamir on Mount Abdulaziz, about 25km south of the town of Tel Tamr. That raised fears, the network said, that ISIL could use them as human shields against Kurdish militiamen.

Kurdish offensive

Al Jazeera’s Nisreen El-Shamayleh, reporting from Amman, said the kidnapping appeared to be in direct response to recent gains made by Kurdish forces in Syria’s northeast.

Much of Hassakeh is divided between Kurdish and ISIL control.

Fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have been on the offensive in the province in recent days.

They have taken 24 villages and hamlets as part of an operation to try to recapture the town of Tal Hamis and surrounding areas, the AFP news agency reported. Tal Hamis lies to the east of the villages taken by ISIL.

Kino told the Associated Press that about 3,000 people fled from ISIL’s onslaught in the area.

YPG forces have also been on the offensive in Raqqa province, which neighbours Hassakeh, seizing 19 villages as they advance following their recapture of the strategic border town of Kobane last month.

The Kurdish forces have been backed by US-led air strikes launched by the international coalition fighting ISIL.

Northeastern Syria is strategically important in the fight against ISIL because it borders territory controlled by the group in Iraq, where last year the armed group attacked the Yazidi community.

ISIL has destroyed churches and Christian shrines in Syria, and demanded that Christians living under its rule pay a tax known as jizya.

Civilians killed as Egypt launches air strikes on ISIS targets in Libya

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At least seven civilians killed in northeast Libya as Cairo vows to “punish” ISIL for beheading 21 Egyptian Christians.

egypt-isis-libya

by Al Jazeera

At least seven civilians, including three children, have been killed in Egyptian air strikes in northeast Libya.

The bombings came as Cairo vowed to find those responsible for the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped by fighters pledging allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Libya’s Sirte.

Sources told Al Jazeera on Monday that at least seven people were killed in air strikes in the coastal city of Derna after Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi vowed to “punish” those responsible for the beheadings.

Egypt’s military said it carried out the raids early on Monday against ISIL camps, training sites and weapons storage areas.

In a statement aired on state television, the military said: “The air strikes hit their [ISIL] targets precisely, and the falcons of our air forces returned safely to their bases.”

However, photos published on social media purportedly showed several damaged residential areas in Derna.

Omar al-Hassi, the head of Libya’s legally installed government in Tripoli, called the Egyptian raids “terrorism” and denounced them as a “sinful aggression”.

“This horrible assault and this terrorism that’s been conducted by the Egyptian military represents a violation of sovereignty in Libya and is a clear breach of international law and the UN charter,” Hassi said.

Following the raids, Sisi deployed the armed forces to protect key installations and buildings in Egypt.

Fighters pledging allegiance to ISIL released a video on Sunday purporting to show the killing of the Egyptians kidnapped in Libya.

The Egyptian government and the Coptic Church confirmed the authenticity of the footage, which showed the migrant workers, all wearing orange jumpsuits, being beheaded near a waterfront said to be located in the Libyan province of Tripoli.

The men were seized in two attacks in December and January from Sirte in eastern Libya.

Combating ISIL

In the wake of the video release, France and Egypt urged the UN Security Council to meet and consider fresh measures against ISIL.

French President Francois Hollande and Sisi spoke by telephone, highlighting “the importance that the Security Council meet and that the international community take new measures” against the spread of ISIL in Libya.

Egypt later confirmed it had signed a $5.8bn deal to buy French weaponry, including 24 Rafale combat jets, a multi-mission naval frigate and air-to-air missiles.

Libya has slid into chaos after Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed three years ago, as interim authorities failed to confront powerful militias which fought to oust the longtime leader.

Taking advantage of the chaos, ISIL has carried out a string of deadly attacks.

The group has released several propaganda videos showing vows of allegiance from fighters in the country.

In October, Ansar al-Sharia in Derna pledged allegiance to ISIL.

Sunday’s video comes less than two weeks after ISIL released a video showing the burning alive of a Jordanian pilot it captured after his plane went down in Syria in December.

ISIS video shows Christian Egyptians beheaded in Libya

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Egyptian president declares week of mourning after video emerges, apparently showing killings of 21 abducted Copts.

Islamic State militants have killed 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians who were held hostage in Libya. Photo: Dabiq

Islamic State militants have killed 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians who were held hostage in Libya. Photo: Dabiq

by Al Jazeera

Fighters pledging allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have released a video purporting to show the killing of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped in Libya.

The Egyptian government and the Coptic Church confirmed the authenticity of the footage, released on Sunday.

It showed the Egyptian workers, all wearing orange jump suits, being beheaded near a waterfront said to be located in the Libyan province of Tripoli.

The men were seized in two attacks in December and January from the coastal town of Sirte in eastern Libya.

In the wake of the video release, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called for an urgent meeting of Egypt’s top national security team and declared seven days of mourning.

“Egypt reserves the right to respond in a suitable way and time to punish these murderers,” Sisi said in a televised speech.

Later, state television reported that Egypt’s military had bombed ISIL targets in Libya at dawn on Monday.

The Coptic Orthodox Church issued a statement saying it was “confident” the killers would be brought to justice.

Al-Azhar, the prestigious Cairo-based seat of Islamic learning, denounced the “barbaric” killings.

“Al-Azhar stresses that such barbaric action has nothing to do with any religion or human values,” it said in a statement.

Libya has slid into chaos after longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed three years ago, as interim authorities failed to confront powerful militias which fought to oust the authoritarian leader.

Taking advantage of the chaos, ISIL has carried out a string of deadly attacks.

The group has released several propaganda videos boasting vows of allegiance from fighters in the country. In October, Ansar al-Sharia in Derna pledged allegiance to ISIL.

Libya’s embattled parliament, which is locked in a conflict with militias, expressed its condolences in a statement and called on the world to “show solidarity with Libya” against ISIL.

The UN’s mission in Libya called for the group’s actions to be “rejected and denounced by all Libyans”.

A scrolling caption in the video referred to the hostages as “People of the cross, followers of the hostile Egyptian Church”.

Speaking in English, a fighter from the group said the beheadings were revenge for “Muslim women persecuted by Coptic crusaders in Egypt”.

Sunday’s video comes less than two weeks after ISIL released a video showing the burning alive of a Jordanian pilot it captured after his plane went down in Syria in December.

Deadly clashes continue in Yemen as embassies shutdown

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Clashes between Shi’ite Houthi militiamen and Sunni fighters have killed 26 people in Yemen.

The embassy closures have isolated Yemen's new rulers and lent urgency to struggling talks over internal power-sharing which the Houthis.

The embassy closures have isolated Yemen’s new rulers and lent urgency to struggling talks over internal power-sharing which the Houthis.

by Reuters

Sanaa: Clashes between Shi’ite Houthi militiamen and Sunni tribesmen fighting alongside Al Qaeda militants killed 26 people in Yemen, local officials said, as the United Arab Emirates joined Saudi Arabia and Western countries in closing its embassy in the country.

Heavy fighting was ongoing in the southern mountainous province of al-Bayda, leading to the death of 16 Houthi rebels along with 10 Sunni tribesmen and militants, security officials and tribal sources told Reuters.

The state faces collapse in Yemen two weeks after the Houthi group took formal control of the country and continued an armed push southward.

France, the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia have closed their missions in the capital Sanaa and withdrawn staff, citing security concerns.

The United Arab Emirates announced the closure of its embassy in Sanaa on Saturday, state news agency WAM said.

It cited “the increasing deterioration of the political and security situation Yemen is witnessing and the tragic events after the Houthis undermined the legitimate authority.”

Yemen’s rich Sunni Gulf neighbors loathe the Iranian-backed rebels and have called their rise to power a “coup.”

The embassy closures have isolated Yemen’s new rulers and lent urgency to struggling talks over internal power-sharing which the Houthis are conducting with opposition parties.

Hailing their advance as a “revolution” aimed at corrupt officials and economic ruin, the Houthis dissolved parliament and set up their own ruling body earlier this month.

Opponents say the group is backed by Yemen’s former strongman president Ali Abdullah Saleh – ousted in 2011 Arab Spring protests – and is bent on seizing land and the levers of power.

The Houthi spread to Yemen’s well-armed tribal regions in the East and South has prompted locals to make common cause with militants from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the deadliest arms of the global militant organization.

Months of combat and AQAP bombings directed against Houthi targets in Sanaa have stoked fears of an all-out sectarian war.

Iraq: ISIS Expands Further in Anbar

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ISIS

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) insurgents took control on Thursday of large parts of the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, threatening an air base where US Marines are training Iraqi troops, officials said.

Al-Baghdadi, about 85 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Ramadi in Anbar province, has been besieged for months by the radical Islamist militants who captured vast swathes of northern and western Iraq last year.

Militants attacked al-Baghdadi from two directions earlier in the day and then advanced on the town, intelligence sources and officials in the Jazeera and Badiya operations commands said.

The officials said another group of insurgents then attacked the heavily-guarded Ain al-Asad air base five kilometers southwest of the town, but were unable to break into it.

About 320 US Marines are training members of the Iraqi 7th Division at the base, which has been struck by mortar fire on at least one previous occasion since December.

Pentagon spokeswoman Navy Commander Elissa Smith confirmed there was “heavy fighting” in al-Baghdadi. She said there had been no direct attack on the air base, but added: “There were reports of ineffective indirect fire in the vicinity of the base.”

An Iraqi defense ministry spokesman declined to comment on the situation in Anbar.

District manager Naji Arak confirmed that ISIS insurgents had entered al-Baghdadi and attacked some government buildings. He initially estimated the militants had taken 90 percent of the town but later said he could not confirm the extent of the group’s control as intermittent clashes continued into the early morning.

The death toll from the fighting was not immediately clear.

Elsewhere in Iraq, five civilians were killed when bombs went off in two towns south of Baghdad, police and medical sources said. Such attacks are not uncommon in and around the capital.

Most of the surrounding towns in Anbar fell under ISIS control following the group’s ground offensive in the country last summer that drove the Iraqi army — the recipient of $25 billion in US training and funding since the 2003 invasion — to collapse. The onslaught rapidly advanced across the Syrian border where captured territories in both countries were proclaimed part of the group’s caliphate.

The wide spread of ISIS control prompted the formation of a US-led coalition of around 60 mainly Western and Arab states that has been conducting a campaign of airstrikes against the jihadists in Iraq and Syria since August.

However, the effect of the open-ended US-led air campaign remains the subject of debate, with the White House saying the militants have been damaged by the strikes and critics pointing to ISIS’ advances and battlefield successes despite the raids.

Still, the US has been planning to stretch out its operations in targeting the militant group.

As Baghdad prepares for a major ground offensive expected within months, the US president said Wednesday that he consulted Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress before submitting a request for authorization of military force against ISIS.

Although the military operations stop short of a large scale invasion by US ground troops, Barack Obama claimed otherwise and said that the authorization could permit certain strikes involving US special forces and would be limited to three years to give his successor the opportunity to reevaluate the situation with Congress.

However, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafaari said ground forces were not part of his government’s plan.

“We have established a set of guidelines,” for the international coalition, Jafaari told a press conference, stressing that this was to provide air support for Iraqi forces, training and intelligence.

(Reuters, Al-Akhbar)

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