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June 16, 2014 Special Dispatch No. 5772

Photos Document ISIS Victories In Iraq: Victory Parades And Warm Welcome By Locals Alongside Massacres Of Shi'ite Soldiers

June 16, 2014
Iraq | Special Dispatch No. 5772

In recent days, videos and photos have been circulated online documenting the entry of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) into Mosul and other cities in Iraq, and celebrations by locals welcoming its arrival. The pictures show long ISIS convoys, frequently laden with arms taken as booty, parading through the streets while happy locals look on, waving flags and cheering. Some also show celebrations in honor of prisoners that have been released by ISIS from the local jails. Yet other photos show Syrians in ISIS-controlled areas celebrating its victories in Iraq. Allegedly, such celebrations have also taken place in southern Iraq, which is not controlled by ISIS.

At the same time, photos have also been circulated of manacled Shi'ite soldiers being led to their execution and buried in mass graves.

The videos and photos are circulated on the Twitter accounts of the organization’s various “provinces,” and on the accounts of its supporters, as well as other on social media and jihadi forums. They serve to increase ISIS' popularity and boost the morale of its followers, and to motivate the fighters to march on and take other major Iraqi cities, including Baghdad.

The often graphic photos of Shi'ite soldiers being led to their deaths serve to convey a threatening message to the organization's enemies and to please its supporters, who claim that the soldiers are being justifiably punished for the Iraqi regime's brutal treatment of Sunnis.

Below is a sampling of photos:

ISIS Victory Parades In Recently Captured Iraqi Cities

A YouTube clip posted on June 11, 2014 shows an ISIS victory parade – including two howitzers taken as booty – entering Mosul by night, to the cheers of locals who wave black flags and shout slogans like "The Islamic State Will Endure Forever and Expand."[1]

Another video, of a June 12 victory parade in Mosul, shows a howitzer taken as booty, bearing the black Tawhid flag identified with ISIS and other global jihad groups.[2]

The following are from a video showing a victory parade in the town of Al-Sa'adiya. In the right-hand picture, two of the fighters can be seen hugging each other while the third bends to kiss the ground.[3]

Photos posted on the Twitter account of ISIS in the Nineveh Province, which has since been shut down, show a victory parade entering the province as locals wave in welcome.[4]

The stills below are from a video of a victory parade in Baiji (top right and top left), in Iraq's Salah Al-Din Province, [5] and from a video of a parade in Tikrit (bottom).[6]

Celebrations For Prisoners Released By ISIS

The photos below document the release of prisoners from a Nineveh province jail and the subsequent celebrations.[7]

Iraqis And Syrians Celebrate ISIS Victories

The photos below allegedly show locals in southern Iraq, which is not controlled by ISIS, celebrating its victories by slaughtering a sheep and handing out sweets:[8]

The following images document celebrations in ISIS-controlled areas in Syria. A large celebration in the town of Manbij, in the Aleppo district, included parades, flag waving, distribution of sweets and even street dancing [9]

There were also celebrations in the cities of Al-Bab (left) [10] and Al-Qaqqa (right) [11]:

Photos Showing The Mass Murder Of Shi'ite Soldiers

The photos below, posted on the Twitter account of ISIS in Salah Al-Din province in Iraq[12], document the massacre of men in civilian clothing, claimed to be Iraqi soldiers. The men are led at gunpoint, loaded onto trucks, and then forced to lie down in shallow graves and shot.


"Walking on foot to their deaths".


"And if you punish [an enemy, O believers], punish with an equivalent of that with which you were harmed [Koran 16:126]"


"Hundreds of soldiers from the Shi'ite army being led to their deaths"


"This is the fate of the Shi'ites whom [Nouri] Al-Maliki entrusted to fight the Sunni Muslims."

Endnotes:

[1] Youtube.com/watch?v=4K5S5D_hXnA#t=82

[2] Youtube.com/watch?v=Aldr6sWH3Ck

[3] Youtube.com/watch?v=FV9HZmCTZSM

[4] Twitter.com/dawlanoor/status/478102360385150976

[5] Youtube.com/watch?v=mCr7cyzc0C8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[6] Twitter.com/hakar_al/status/478006168665608193

[7] Fidaa1.net/vb/showthread.php?t=99975

[8] Twitter.com/jnob_isis

[9] Fidaal.net/vb/showthread.php?t=99886

[10] Justpaste.it/BabCeleb

[11] Justpaste.it/ft4w

[12] Twitter.com/hakar_al/status/478006168665608193

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