Isis in Palmyra: Militants Release First Images Showing Destruction of Baalshamin Temple

THE INDEPENDENT: Unseco has described the attack on Syria's cultural history, reported by activists on Sunday, as a 'war crime', while the British Museum is 'deeply distressed'

The Isis militant group has released a series of images purporting to show the destruction of the ancient Baalshamin Temple in Palmyra.

Images posted online and shared by Isis-affiliated social media accounts showed fighters, whose faces were cropped out of the photographs, lining the 2,000-year-old monument with explosives.

Explosives can be seen wired together both inside and outside the structure of the building, which experts said was one of the best-preserved and most completely intact examples of Greco-Roman architecture at the ancient site. » | Adam Withnall | Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Boko Haram Sends Terrorists to Help ISIS Take Libya as Map Shows Horrifying Plan for World

One ISIS supporter posted this map on Twitter, boasting the
group will conquer Rome

EXPRESS: TERRORIST group Boko Haram has sent hundreds of fighters to Libya to help Islamic State (ISIS) conquer the wartorn country…and their next stop could be EUROPE.

The Nigerian-based fanatics have dispatched up to 200 heavily armed troops to bolster ISIS forces in north Africa in a terrifying sign of the growing alliance between the two feared groups.

ISIS is fighting to take control of Libya - which has been engulfed by a chaotic civil war since the fall of Colonel Gadaffi - because it believes that it is a launchpad to Europe.

Boosted by the deployment, gleeful ISIS fighters boasted online of how they will use their stronghold in the north African nation to invade Italy and other parts of southern Europe.

The terrorists have described Libya as the "gateway to Rome" and it is thought they are planning to stow away fighters on smugglers' boats full of migrants destined for Italy.

ISIS supporters posted a series of mocked up messages online showing the eternal city in flames and the black flag of their hate group flying above the Vatican.

One even posted a map showing the area the terror group was targeting, writing in French that its fighters will conquer Iran, Burma, Rome and even America. » | Nick Gutteridge | Tuesday, August 25, 2015

ISIS Make Chilling Call to Supporters to Attack Britain after Tunisia Massacre

DAILY EXPRESS: ISLAMIC State (ISIS) has issued a chilling call to arms to their supporters to carry out more attacks on Britain and America.

ISIS's propaganda magazine Dabiq, which describes itself at "The Law of Allah, or the laws of men", celebrates the brutal Tunisia beach massacre as “Bloody Friday”.

The day where Seifeddine Rezgui opened fire to kill 38 tourists, 30 of which were British, also saw the beheading of a business owner in Lyon, France, and the suicide bombing of a mosque in Kuwait.

Printing images of dead bodies on the Sousse beach and the British Army bringing home victims in coffins, the extremists made clear they were planning more serious attacks on the west.

The magazine urges more Muslims to join their regime to “wage war” on their opponents "wherever they're found, especially those belonging to the member nations of the crusader coalition." » | Helen Barnett | Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Islamic State Jihadists Execute Dozens amid Palmyra Ruins

25 Syrian government soldiers kneel in the ancient amphitheatre
in the city of Palmyra ahead of being executed by children

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: A new Isil video shows teenage executioners using the Unesco heritage site as a theatre for death

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) have released a video purportedly showing the execution of dozens of Syrian government soldiers in the ancient ruins of Palmyra.

The footage shows 25 men kneeling on the stage of the site's historic Roman theatre, their hands tied behind their backs.

With ritualistic precision, the same numbers of executioners then step out in unison, each taking up position behind one of the condemned. A large black Isil flag is draped over the columns behind them.

Wearing matching long brown robes and brown bandannas the executioners appear to be boys or young teenagers – few look old enough to grow a beard.

Footage filmed from cameras trained on the soldiers' faces show that the men have been beaten.

Then the child jihadists transform the world-class tourist attraction into a killing ground.

Simultaneously raising their pistols, they spray bullets into the heads and backs of the men, leaving them lifeless and bloody on the ground.

An apparently unhappy crowd of onlookers, mostly dressed in civilian clothes, are gathered on the seats of the stadium watching the grisly show. » | Ruth Sherlock, Beirut | Sunday, July 5, 2015

ISIS Cuts Off Hands and Feet of 'Livestock Thieves' in Latest Sickening Propaganda Video

DAILY EXPRESS: ISLAMIC STATE (ISIS) savages have released their latest sickening propaganda video showing two 'thieves' having their hands and feet chopped off with a foot-long meat cleaver.

**WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT BELOW**

The stomach-churning four-minute clip shows the men, who are accused of stealing livestock and cars from a group of herders in the Syrian city of Homs, being brutally punished by ISIS fighters.

The pair, who seemed not to have been anaesthetised before the medieval sentence was carried out, had their right hands and left feet covered in antiseptic liquid before the cruel amputation.

Wearing rubber gloves, the ISIS barbarians tie the accused's feet and arms to a table before slicing the extremities in two.

After the grotesque incident, one of the victims was bundled into an ambulance with his clearly bandaged foot covered in blood.

The propaganda material was released just a day after another horrific video was circulated of the group's fighters throwing a man to his death from a building in Iraq simply for being gay. Read on and comment » | Tom Batchelor | Thursday, July 2, 2015

Islamic State Takes Sledgehammer to 'Irreplaceable' Ancient Palmyra Ruins

ISIS militants use heavy[-]duty sledgehammers to destroy
the historic statues in front of a large crowd, Palmyra

THE TELEGRAPH: Isil militants have released images showing a civilian being forced to destroy priceless artefacts from the Roman city of Palmyra as the head of Unesco warned of "cultural cleansing" by the extremist group'

Militants from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) are feared to have begun destruction of Syria’s Roman city of Palmyra as the head of Unesco warned of "cultural cleansing" by the extremist group.

Maamoun Abdelkarim, Syrian antiquities minister, said on Thursday the militants had destroyed a 15 tonne statue of a lion, known as the Lion of Al-Lat.

"It's the most serious crime they have committed against Palmyra's heritage," Mr Abdelkarim told AFP news agency. Isil seized Palmyra's ruins from Syrian government control in May, prompting widespread fears that the group could destroy the a Unesco World Heritage site as an act of propaganda.

The jihadists have destroyed cultural treasures across the Middle East and North Africa, often describing the sites as idolatrous. » | Louisa Loveluck, Cairo | Thursday, July 2, 2015

Islamic State 'Launches First Coin of Currency'

BBC AMERICA: Pictures are circulating online that are thought to show a currency issued by the so-called Islamic State group.

An anti-IS activist who lives in IS-controlled Syria has shared images of two gold coins social media.

Lucas de Jong reports on at what we know about the so-called "Islamic Dinar". (+ BBC video) » | Wednesday, June 24, 2015

British PM Warns: ISIS Planning 'Terrible Attacks' in the UK

ARUTZ SHEVA: UK Prime Minister David Cameron says ISIS determined to carry out massacre on British soil, after 30 UK citizens killed in Tunisia attack.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has said that ISIS terrorists are actively planning terrorist atrocities against the UK, and warned the group poses an existential threat to the western world.

Speaking just days after a massacre by an ISIS gunman on a beach in Tunisia which killed 38 people - at least 30 of them British citizens - Cameron warned that until ISIS was defeated in Syria and Iraq, it would continue to pose a deadly threat to the UK and beyond.

"There are people in Iraq and Syria who are plotting to carry out terrible acts in Britain and elsewhere and as long as ISIL (Islamic State) exists in those two countries we are at threat," Cameron told BBC radio, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State group. » | Ari Soffer | Monday, June 29, 2015

More Than 42 Million Muslims 'Support ISIS' – As Experts Warn the Figure Will Grow

DAILY EXPRESS: THE Islamic State terror group is supported by more than 42million Muslims, a new report has warned.

The study, based on four recent polls, reveals the shocking level of support for the caliphate around the world.

Ryan Mauro of the Clarion Project, which carried out the research, warned that "ISIS is only a fraction of what it could potentially become".

He said: "If we don't act quickly, this is still going to grow – and what we're looking at today is going to look like the good old days compared to the future."

More than 8.5million people view ISIS positively, and around 42million view them somewhat positively, according to the data. » | Tom Parfitt | Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Islamic State Spreads Tentacles to Russia as Chechnya Militants Pledge Allegiance to Leader Baghdadi

THE TELEGRAPH: New alliance marks first time the terror group has made a territorial claim in Russia and becomes the latest addition to its rapidly expanding portfolio of terror franchises

Islamic State has claimed a swathe of southern Russia as a “province” of its emirate after fighters there pledged allegiance to the group, opening a new front on Europe’s doorstep.

Thousands of Islamist fighters from the region this week pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Isil, in a video filmed in the Muslim republic of Chechnya.

Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, Isil’s spokesman, appointed a new "governor" of the Caucasus, calling on all “mujahideen” to recognise his authority “and obey him in everything except sin.”

The move appears to sideline the current leadership of the Caucasus Emirate, an umbrella group of smaller extremist groups in Chechnya, Daghestan and Ingushetia, who have fought to break away from Russian rule for decades.

Mr Adnani declared that the Caucasus would form a new province of the self-proclaimed Caliphate, marking the first time the terror group has made a territorial claim in Russia and becomes the latest addition to its rapidly expanding portfolio of terror franchises. » | Roland Oliphant, Moscow | Wednesday, June 24, 2015

British Doctor Urges Muslim Doctors from Britain and Sudan to Join ISIS in Syria

Just Days after Seizing Palmyra, Isis Massacres 400 People in the Ancient City

THE INDEPENDENT: Most of the people murdered were women and children

Isis has slaughtered more than 400 mostly women and children in the ancient city of Palmyra, two days after capturing the ancient city.

Syrian state television reported the massacre, quoting residents of the city.

The state news agency said: "The terrorists have killed more than 400 people.. and mutilated their bodies, under the pretext that they cooperated with the government and did not follow orders."

Opposition activists claimed that hundreds of bodies littered the streets. They said that many of the victims were from groups or families loyal to the government.

Amongst the dead were state employees - including the head of the nursing department at the city hospital, and all of her family members.

Isis supporters released videos of militants searching government buildings, looking for victims and pulling down pictures of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and his father . » | Doug Bolton | Sunday, May 24, 2015

Alleged Audio of Al-Baghdadi Surfaces

Isis Leader Incapacitated with Suspected Spinal Injuries after Air Strike

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is being treated in hideout two months after attack while deputy leader Abu Alaa al-Afri runs terror group intent on revenge

Read the Guardian article here | Martin Chulov in Irbil | Friday, May 01, 2015

Australian Islamic State Doctor Tareq Kamleh's Sudden Change after Mystery Trip in 2013

Australian doctor Tareq Kamleh in the IS propaganda video.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Australian jihadist doctor Tareq Kamleh morphed suddenly from a partying "playboy" doctor to a strict Muslim after a mysterious camping trip, former colleagues say.

Dr Kamleh, who up until recently was working in the health system in Perth, appeared in a propaganda video for Islamic State released this week where he spruiked its health services and asked other Muslim clinicians to join him.

But before this recent infamy, he was working as a pediatrician at a Mackay hospital in north-east Queensland and it is here that former colleagues say he underwent a seismic shift in his personality.

Known as a partying and drinking playboy who constantly cheated on his girlfriend, Dr Kamleh embraced a fundamental interpretation of the religion of his parents in a few short days in 2013, colleagues said.

"I didn't think we had too many radical fundamentalists up in Mackay."

They said Dr Kamleh stopped drinking alcohol, abstained from sex, grew his beard and withdrew from the friends he had made. » | Tammy Mills, Patrick Hatch and Rachel Olding | Monday, April 27, 2015

Related »

‘Australian’ Islamist Video Deplored

Australian doctor Tareq Kamleh.

THE AUSTRALIAN: Security agencies will reassess their monitoring efforts amid growing outrage over an Australian doctor joining Islamic State.

Registered Adelaide doctor Tareq Khamleh has appeared in an Islamic State propaganda video calling for Muslim health professionals in the West to join him in the extremist group’s stronghold in Raqqa in Syria.

The 29-year-old flew to Kuala Lumpur on March 10, before appearing on the video on the weekend wearing scrubs and working in a neonatal unit describing his work as “part of my Jihad”.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says Mr Khamleh is the first known Australian medical professional to join the extremist organisation.

It proved Islamic State isn’t just recruiting fighters, and security agencies will be alert to the new threat, he said.

The acting attorney-general and foreign affairs minister said it was disturbing development that a highly-educated person had succumbed to “the death cult’s evil message”.

“For an Australian doctor to go, to sign up with this group of bandits, people who are murdering, raping, killing people in the Middle East, in the name of ISIL is just something that our country can’t tolerate,” he said.

Mr Dutton urged Australians to report family and friends if they had concerns they were considering joining the extremist group. There is a maximum 25 year jail term for anyone found to be aiding the group. » | AAP | Sunday, April 26, 2015

Related »

Australian Doctor Appears In Islamic State Propaganda Video

NEWS.COM.AU: Perth doctor joins ISIS medical team in ‘jihad for Islam’ against the west: A PERTH doctor has appeared in an Islamic State propaganda video urging medicos to join his jihad. » | Saturday, April 25, 2015

Related »

DANIEL PIPES: Islam Bulldozes the Past

The recent bulldozing by the Islamic State (ISIS) of the ancient cities of Nimrud, Hatra, and Korsabad, three of the world's greatest archaeological and cultural sites, is just this group latest round of assaults across the large area under its control. Since January 2014, the flamboyantly barbaric ISIS has blown up Shi'i mosques, bulldozed churches, pulverized…

The Most Dangerous Isis Propaganda Yet? Jihadi Brides with M5s, Fighters Relaxing and Children Playing Used to Present Caliphate as a Utopia

THE INDEPENDENT: The reality of life under Isis is brutal for both fighters and civilians

Much attention is paid to the extreme, distressing and sadistic propaganda disseminated by Isis, who go to great lengths to circulate violent images and videos of the atrocities it commits.

Yet little attention is paid to what could arguably be considered to be the most dangerous propaganda emerging from the group – the pictures and videos that attempt to normalise and even glamorise life within Isis. It is these pictures that are used as a recruiting tool for the extremist group. » | Heather Saul | Friday, March 20, 2015

How Isil Spread to Libya - and Now Has Europe in Its Sights

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The slow creep of Islamic State through Libya has gone largely unnoticed, but the jihadists have gained support in the divided nation on Europe's doorstep

Isil's execution of 21 Egyptian Christians on Libya's Mediterranean shore is intended as a clear message to Europe: the group is expanding its geographical spread, and it has the West in its sights.

The slow creep of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) through Libya has gone largely unnoticed, but it is here, in a divided nation spiralling further into chaos, that the Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's men are now finding find fertile ground.

The jihadist group - one of several now operating in Libya - gained a foothold in the port city Derna in back October, after a senior Isil official travelled to eastern Libya to unite a panoply of militant factions under a single banner.

The Isil leader has since recognised the Libyan "provinces" of Barqa in the east, Tripolitania in the west, and Fezzan in the desert south as belonging to his self-styled "caliphate." » | Louisa Loveluck | Monday, February 16, 2015