US Military: Airstrikes 'Won't Stop ISIS'

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br /> <section class="partner-links" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 60px; max-width: 540px; orphans: auto; overflow: hidden; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="partner-links__external" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block;"> </div> </section><br /> <section class="story__content" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px auto 80px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 18.75rem; orphans: auto; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; widows: auto;"><header class="story__header" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><div class="story__standfirst" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-bottom: 40px; max-width: 64%;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Islamist militants in Iraq will continue to seize territory and attack security forces despite airstrikes, the US warns.</span></div> <div class="last-updated" style="bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 40px; max-width: 40%; position: absolute; right: 0px; text-align: right;"> <div class="last-updated__text" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"> <span class="last-updated__time" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">23:30, UK,</span></span><span class="last-updated__day" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); box-sizing: border-box;"></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span class="last-updated__day" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Monday 11</span> <span class="last-updated__month-year" style="box-sizing: border-box;">August 2014</span></div> </div> </header><div class="story__content-outer-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; padding: 0px 332px 0px 0px; width: 992px;"> <section class="story__media" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="module module--primary" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; width: 660px;"> <div class="module video" data-format-high="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/700/2014/08/110814IraqConflictMilitantsMartin1407791688412700.mp4" data-format-low="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/374/2014/08/110814IraqConflictMilitantsMartin1407791688412374.mp4" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow: hidden; width: 660px;"> <div class="video__placeholder-wrapper js-video" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 0px; padding-bottom: 371px; position: relative; width: 660px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 371px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item video__teaser-image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328726/default/v1/cegrab-20140811-195126-380-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328726/default/v1/cegrab-20140811-195126-380-1-942x530.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 371px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 660px;" /></div> </div> <button aria-labelledby="video__caption-1317031" class="video__play--icon" style="background-image: url(http://news.sky.com/images/ffa94923.play-icon.png); background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: none; bottom: 8px; cursor: pointer; height: 46px; left: 7px; margin: 0px; position: absolute; width: 46px;"><span class="video__play-a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; text-align: left; width: 1px;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Play video</span></span></span></button></div> <span class="video__caption" id="video__caption-1317031" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px; width: 660px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="video__type" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Video:</span> <span class="video__teaser" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Airstrikes 'Won't Halt Militants'</span></span></span></div> </div> </section></div> <div class="story__intro" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Islamic militants fighting in northern Iraq are unlikely to be stopped by targeted airstrikes, a US general has warned.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Joint staff operations director Lieutenant General William Mayville told a news conference that 15 airstrikes on Islamic State (IS) positions were focused initially on protecting US facilities and citizens, as well as aiding the humanitarian mission.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> He said: "These airstrikes have helped check the advance of missile forces around Mount Sinjar and in the area west of Irbil.</div> <div class="image image--inline" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="91x68 300x225 480x360" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328727/default/v1/cegrab-20140811-195147-380-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328727/default/v1/cegrab-20140811-195147-380-1-480x360.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> <div class="image__caption" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px;"> US airstrikes have taken place from the USS George H. W. Bush</div> </div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> "US airstrikes are also providing the Kurdish security forces with time to fortify their defensive positions with the supplies they are receiving from the central government of Baghdad.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> "We assess that US airstrikes in northern Iraq have slowed IS operational tempo and temporarily disrupted their advances toward the province of Irbil.</div> <div class="module module--inline video" data-format-high="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/700/2014/08/110814CUPREPORTSIRAQ17001407773744879700.mp4" data-format-low="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/374/2014/08/110814CUPREPORTSIRAQ17001407773744879374.mp4" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 540px; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div class="video__placeholder-wrapper js-video" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 0px; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item video__teaser-image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328669/default/v2/2014-08-11t131146z-509411683-gm1ea8b1m7b01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328669/default/v2/2014-08-11t131146z-509411683-gm1ea8b1m7b01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-942x530.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 303px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <button aria-labelledby="video__caption-1316911" class="video__play--icon" style="-webkit-appearance: button; background-image: url(http://news.sky.com/images/ffa94923.play-icon.png); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: none; bottom: 8px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; height: 46px; left: 7px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: absolute; text-transform: none; width: 46px;"><span class="video__play-a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; width: 1px;">Play video</span></button></div> <span class="video__caption" id="video__caption-1316911" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px; width: 540px;"><span class="video__type" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1rem;">Video:</span> <span class="video__teaser" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 1rem;">Fight Back Against Islamic State</span></span></div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> "However, these strikes are unlikely to affect IS's overall capabilities or its operations in other areas of Iraq and Syria.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> "IS remains focused on securing and gaining additional territory through Iraq and will sustain its attacks against Iraqi and Kurdish security forces and their positions as well as targeting Yazidis, Christians and other minorities."</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> It comes after Iraq's new prime minister called on the country to unite against the "barbaric" Islamist insurgency.</div> <div class="module gallery gallery--4x3" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; -webkit-transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 540px; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div aria-hidden="true" class="gallery__position" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin-top: 10px; padding: 405px 10px 0px 0px; position: absolute; text-align: right; top: 0px; width: 540px; z-index: 99;"> <span class="js-gallery-current" style="box-sizing: border-box;">1</span>/<span class="js-gallery-total" style="box-sizing: border-box;">22</span></div> <div class="gallery__container" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 54000px;"> <ol aria-labelledby="gallery__teaser--1316819" class="gallery__list" style="-webkit-transform: translateX(-1%); box-sizing: border-box; left: 0px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 54000px;"> <li aria-hidden="true" class="gallery__item gallery__item--last" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328658/default/v2/2014-08-11t120730z-1435560030-gm1ea8b1jsq01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328658/default/v2/2014-08-11t120730z-1435560030-gm1ea8b1jsq01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item gallery__item--first" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328664/default/v2/2014-08-11t125649z-61144091-gm1ea8b1lxu01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328664/default/v2/2014-08-11t125649z-61144091-gm1ea8b1lxu01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-1600x1200.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> <div class="gallery__teaser" id="gallery__teaser--1316819" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 1rem; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"> <span class="gallery__module-type" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1rem;">Gallery:</span> Thousands Of Displaced Yazidis Flee In Iraq</div> <div class="gallery__caption" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 100ms; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; margin: 0px; min-height: 1.125rem; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 100ms; width: 472px;"> Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain</div> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328647/default/v2/2014-08-11t121242z-581140670-gm1ea8b1jyr01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328647/default/v2/2014-08-11t121242z-581140670-gm1ea8b1jyr01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328652/default/v2/2014-08-11t113416z-1047585646-gm1ea8b1hx901-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328652/default/v2/2014-08-11t113416z-1047585646-gm1ea8b1hx901-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328671/default/v1/2014-08-11t131605z-1140250444-gm1ea8b1mkm01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328671/default/v1/2014-08-11t131605z-1140250444-gm1ea8b1mkm01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328656/default/v2/2014-08-11t120320z-486900165-gm1ea8b1jhe01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328656/default/v2/2014-08-11t120320z-486900165-gm1ea8b1jhe01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328654/default/v2/2014-08-11t115414z-246221820-gm1ea8b1j5b01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328654/default/v2/2014-08-11t115414z-246221820-gm1ea8b1j5b01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328669/default/v2/2014-08-11t131146z-509411683-gm1ea8b1m7b01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328669/default/v2/2014-08-11t131146z-509411683-gm1ea8b1m7b01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328670/default/v2/2014-08-11t130853z-162265272-gm1ea8b1mc701-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328670/default/v2/2014-08-11t130853z-162265272-gm1ea8b1mc701-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328667/default/v2/2014-08-11t125924z-1154042199-gm1ea8b1lr701-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328667/default/v2/2014-08-11t125924z-1154042199-gm1ea8b1lr701-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328660/default/v2/2014-08-11t122700z-431311644-gm1ea8b1kkr01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328660/default/v2/2014-08-11t122700z-431311644-gm1ea8b1kkr01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328645/default/v2/2014-08-11t122906z-180313560-gm1ea8b1k8001-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328645/default/v2/2014-08-11t122906z-180313560-gm1ea8b1k8001-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328668/default/v2/2014-08-11t130117z-1755994780-gm1ea8b1lvn01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328668/default/v2/2014-08-11t130117z-1755994780-gm1ea8b1lvn01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328646/default/v2/2014-08-11t123203z-589159096-gm1ea8b1kel01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328646/default/v2/2014-08-11t123203z-589159096-gm1ea8b1kel01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328662/default/v2/2014-08-11t123453z-1457096251-gm1ea8b1kfn01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328662/default/v2/2014-08-11t123453z-1457096251-gm1ea8b1kfn01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328655/default/v2/2014-08-11t115148z-1159516768-gm1ea8b1j0n01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328655/default/v2/2014-08-11t115148z-1159516768-gm1ea8b1j0n01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image image--portrait" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="60x80 221x295 372x497 720x960" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328661/default/v2/2014-08-11t123338z-442105813-gm1ea8b1kcf01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328661/default/v2/2014-08-11t123338z-442105813-gm1ea8b1kcf01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-60x80.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; left: 21.875%; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 303px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328653/default/v2/2014-08-11t113918z-1252489205-gm1ea8b1ic501-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328653/default/v2/2014-08-11t113918z-1252489205-gm1ea8b1ic501-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328657/default/v2/2014-08-11t120154z-1912064419-gm1ea8b1j9u01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328657/default/v2/2014-08-11t120154z-1912064419-gm1ea8b1j9u01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328659/default/v2/2014-08-11t120549z-405513875-gm1ea8b1jot01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328659/default/v2/2014-08-11t120549z-405513875-gm1ea8b1jot01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328644/default/v2/2014-08-11t121423z-1864435360-gm1ea8b1k1n01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328644/default/v2/2014-08-11t121423z-1864435360-gm1ea8b1k1n01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328665/default/v2/2014-08-11t125805z-1244768116-gm1ea8b1m0d01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328665/default/v2/2014-08-11t125805z-1244768116-gm1ea8b1m0d01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li class="gallery__item gallery__item--last" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image " data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328658/default/v2/2014-08-11t120730z-1435560030-gm1ea8b1jsq01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328658/default/v2/2014-08-11t120730z-1435560030-gm1ea8b1jsq01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-300x225.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> </div> </li> <li aria-hidden="true" class="gallery__item gallery__item--first" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 540px;"><div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 405px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; width: 540px;"> <img alt="" class="image__item gallery__image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="300x225 480x360 800x600 960x720 1024x768 1600x1200" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328664/default/v2/2014-08-11t125649z-61144091-gm1ea8b1lxu01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328664/default/v2/2014-08-11t125649z-61144091-gm1ea8b1lxu01-rtrmadp-3-iraq-security-yazidis-1-1600x1200.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <div class="gallery__text" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 2.688rem; padding: 10px 3.75rem 15px 8px;"> <div class="gallery__teaser" id="gallery__teaser--1316819" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 1rem; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"> <span class="gallery__module-type" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1rem;">Gallery:</span> Thousands Of Displaced Yazidis Flee In Iraq</div> <div class="gallery__caption" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 100ms; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; margin: 0px; min-height: 1.125rem; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 100ms; width: 472px;"> Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain</div> </div> </li> </ol> </div> <div aria-hidden="true" class="gallery__control-container" style="-webkit-transform: translateZ(0px); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; padding-bottom: 405px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 540px; z-index: 100;"> <div class="gallery__area gallery__area--left" data-direction="left" style="-webkit-touch-callout: none; -webkit-user-select: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 405px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 270px;"> <button class="gallery__control gallery__control--left" data-direction="left" style="-webkit-appearance: button; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 35px; border-bottom-right-radius: 35px; border-top-left-radius: 35px; border-top-right-radius: 35px; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(0px 70px 70px 35px); color: #dddddd; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: skycons; font-size: 28px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; height: 70px; left: -35px; line-height: normal; margin: -35px 0px 0px; opacity: 1; padding: 0px; position: absolute; speak: none; text-align: left; text-decoration: inherit; text-indent: 42px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: rgb(0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 0px; text-transform: none; top: 50%; transition: all 0.2s ease-in; vertical-align: middle; width: 70px;"></button></div> <div class="gallery__area gallery__area--right" data-direction="right" style="-webkit-touch-callout: none; -webkit-user-select: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 405px; position: absolute; right: 0px; top: 0px; width: 270px;"> <button class="gallery__control gallery__control--right" data-direction="right" style="-webkit-appearance: button; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 35px; border-bottom-right-radius: 35px; border-top-left-radius: 35px; border-top-right-radius: 35px; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(0px 35px 70px 0px); color: #dddddd; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: skycons; font-size: 28px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; height: 70px; line-height: normal; margin: -35px 0px 0px; opacity: 1; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: -35px; speak: none; text-align: left; text-decoration: inherit; text-indent: 10px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: rgb(0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 0px; text-transform: none; top: 50%; transition: all 0.2s ease-in; vertical-align: middle; width: 70px;"></button></div> </div> </div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> The National Alliance chose Haider al Abadi as the man to unite the country after Nouri al Maliki was criticised for deepening sectarian divisions and steering the country towards all-out civil war.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Speaking on state television, the new PM said: "We all have to co-operate to stand against this terrorist campaign launched on Iraq and to stop all terrorist groups."</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> But Mr al Maliki - ousted after eight years as PM - has indicated he will not just stand aside, with a member of his political block warning "we will not stay silent" over the nomination of his rival.</div> <div class="module module--inline video" data-format-high="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/700/2014/08/110814IraqHammondGrab1407768409909700.mp4" data-format-low="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/374/2014/08/110814IraqHammondGrab1407768409909374.mp4" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 540px; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div class="video__placeholder-wrapper js-video" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 0px; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item video__teaser-image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328691/default/v1/philip-hammond-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328691/default/v1/philip-hammond-1-942x530.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 303px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <button aria-labelledby="video__caption-1316874" class="video__play--icon" style="-webkit-appearance: button; background-image: url(http://news.sky.com/images/ffa94923.play-icon.png); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: none; bottom: 8px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; height: 46px; left: 7px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: absolute; text-transform: none; width: 46px;"><span class="video__play-a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; width: 1px;">Play video</span></button></div> <span class="video__caption" id="video__caption-1316874" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px; width: 540px;"><span class="video__type" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1rem;">Video:</span> <span class="video__teaser" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 1rem;">Iraq: UK Rules Out Military Action</span></span></div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> US President Barack Obama urged Mr al Abadi to form a new government as quickly as possible and said the only lasting solution for Iraq involved an inclusive government.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Islamist extremists have been forced out of Makhmour and al Gweir by Kurdish forces, while thousands of Yazidis stranded on Mount Sinjar after fleeing the militants have been streaming into Iraq's northern Kurdistan region.</div> <div class="module module--inline video" data-format-high="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/700/2014/08/110814USKerry1407768110327700.mp4" data-format-low="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/374/2014/08/110814USKerry1407768110327374.mp4" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 540px; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div class="video__placeholder-wrapper js-video" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 0px; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item video__teaser-image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328690/default/v1/kerry-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328690/default/v1/kerry-1-942x530.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 303px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <button aria-labelledby="video__caption-1316870" class="video__play--icon" style="-webkit-appearance: button; background-image: url(http://news.sky.com/images/ffa94923.play-icon.png); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: none; bottom: 8px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; height: 46px; left: 7px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: absolute; text-transform: none; width: 46px;"><span class="video__play-a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; width: 1px;">Play video</span></button></div> <span class="video__caption" id="video__caption-1316870" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px; width: 540px;"><span class="video__type" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1rem;">Video:</span> <span class="video__teaser" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 1rem;">Kerry's Warning To Iraqi Leader</span></span></div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Kurdish forces have been bolstered further after the State Department confirmed the Obama administration has begun directly providing them with weapons to defend themselves against attacks by Islamic State, previously known as ISIS.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has chaired a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee, after a No 10 source told Sky News there were <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1316681/pm-urged-to-recall-parliament-over-iraq-crisis" style="background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(203, 203, 203); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3157a1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-weight: 700;">no plans to recall Parliament</strong></a> to discuss the crisis despite mounting pressure.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> A Number 10 spokeswoman later confirmed after the meeting that "a small number" of <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1316849/british-may-use-raf-tornados-in-iraq-mission" style="background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(203, 203, 203); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3157a1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-weight: 700;">RAF Tornado fast jets</strong></a> would be "pre-positioned" in the area in case their surveillance capabilities are needed to help organise humanitarian efforts.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Mr Hammond welcomed Mr al Abadi's nomination and added it was "now vital that a new and fully inclusive government be formed quickly in order to respond to the crisis in Iraq".</div> <div class="module module--inline video" data-format-high="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/700/2014/08/110814IRAQBUNKALLEXPLAINERSCREEN1407758394143700.mp4" data-format-low="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/374/2014/08/110814IRAQBUNKALLEXPLAINERSCREEN1407758394143374.mp4" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 540px; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div class="video__placeholder-wrapper js-video" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 0px; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item video__teaser-image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328650/default/v1/cegrab-20140811-135436-380-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328650/default/v1/cegrab-20140811-135436-380-1-942x530.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 303px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <button aria-labelledby="video__caption-1316785" class="video__play--icon" style="-webkit-appearance: button; background-image: url(http://news.sky.com/images/ffa94923.play-icon.png); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: none; bottom: 8px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; height: 46px; left: 7px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: absolute; text-transform: none; width: 46px;"><span class="video__play-a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; width: 1px;">Play video</span></button></div> <span class="video__caption" id="video__caption-1316785" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px; width: 540px;"><span class="video__type" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1rem;">Video:</span> <span class="video__teaser" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 1rem;">Iraq Aid Mission Explained</span></span></div> <div class="module module--inline video" data-format-high="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/700/2014/08/IslamicStateSAMUEL07001407739845522700.mp4" data-format-low="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/374/2014/08/IslamicStateSAMUEL07001407739845522374.mp4" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 540px; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div class="video__placeholder-wrapper js-video" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 0px; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item video__teaser-image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328566/default/v1/khaled-sharrouf-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/11/328566/default/v1/khaled-sharrouf-1-942x530.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 303px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <button aria-labelledby="video__caption-1316595" class="video__play--icon" style="-webkit-appearance: button; background-image: url(http://news.sky.com/images/ffa94923.play-icon.png); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: none; bottom: 8px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; height: 46px; left: 7px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: absolute; text-transform: none; width: 46px;"><span class="video__play-a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; width: 1px;">Play video</span></button></div> <span class="video__caption" id="video__caption-1316595" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px; width: 540px;"><span class="video__type" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextMedium, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1rem;">Video:</span> <span class="video__teaser" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 1rem;">Oz PM Condemns 'Beheading' Picture</span></span></div> </section></div>

US Military: Airstrikes 'Won't Stop ISIS'

Islamist militants in Iraq will continue to seize territory and attack security forces despite airstrikes, the US warns. 23:30, UK,...

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Razing of Mosul’s shrines sparks first signs of resistance against Islamic State: Who said prayer does not work?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="inline-content inline-photo" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="unprocessed" data-hi-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Iraq-04f42.jpg?uuid=ccnw4BgdEeSeO38vEQxiZQ" data-low-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_400w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Iraq-04f42.jpg?uuid=ccnw4BgdEeSeO38vEQxiZQ" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_400w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Iraq-04f42.jpg?uuid=ccnw4BgdEeSeO38vEQxiZQ" style="border: 0px; width: 599px;" /><br /><span class="pb-caption">People walk on the rubble of the destroyed mosque of the prophet Jonah in Mosul on July 24. The Muslim shrine was destroyed by Islamic State militants who overran the city in June and imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law. (AP)</span></span></div> <br /> <article></article><br /> <div class="pb-sig-line hasnt-headshot has-0-headshots hasnt-bio is-not-column" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue Light', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: auto; padding-bottom: 20px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> <span class="pb-byline" style="display: inline-block; font-family: FranklinITCProBold, sans-serif; padding-right: 5px;">By <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/loveday-morris" style="color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none;">Loveday Morris</a></span> <span class="pb-timestamp" style="color: #aaaaaa; display: inline-block; font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue Light', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 1em; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; padding-right: 5px; white-space: nowrap;">July 30 at 6:14 PM</span> <span class="pb-tool email" style="display: inline-block; padding-right: 5px;"><a href="mailto:loveday.morris@washpost.com?subject=Reader%20feedback%20for%20'Razing%20of%20Mosul%E2%80%99s%20shrines%20sparks%20first%20signs%20of%20resistance%20against%20Islamic%20State'" style="color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none;"><span class="fa fa-envelope" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: inline-block; font-family: FontAwesome; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1;"></span></a></span> <span class="tweet-authors" style="white-space: nowrap;"><span class="pb-twitter-follow" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 5px; position: relative; top: 5px;"><a class="twitter-follow-button" data-lang="en" data-show-count="false" href="https://twitter.com/@LovedayM" style="color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none;">Follow @LovedayM</a></span></span></div> <br /> <br /> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="dateline">BAGHDAD –</span> As al-Qaeda-inspired militants have reduced Mosul’s ancient religious shrines to rubble in recent weeks, their support has also crumbled, with popular outrage producing the first signs of resistance in the Iraqi city.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A newly formed militant group calling itself the Mosul Battalions claims to have killed nine members of the extremist Islamic State in recent days in knife and sniper attacks as retaliation for the destruction of the religious sites.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Meanwhile, residents say they have protested attempts to destroy the city’s most iconic landmark – an 800-year-old minaret known locally as al-Hadba, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mosque_of_al-Nuri_%28Mosul%29" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">“the Hunchback,</a>” because of its distinctive lean.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Many Mosul residents had initially welcomed the Sunni militants when they took over in early June, praising them for expelling the largely Shiite Iraqi army, which had been accused of mistreating the city’s majority Sunni population. But local dissatisfaction with the new overlords has been increasing.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The city has suffered from severe electricity, fuel and water shortages, and the smashing of shrines and statues. But the expulsion of tens of thousands of Christians from the city and the destruction a week ago of a highly prominent religious site — the tomb of the prophet Jonah, who, according to Islamic, Jewish and Christian scriptures, survived being swallowed by a whale — brought a new level of resentment.</span></div> <div class="inline-content inline-photo-left" style="border: 0px none; clear: left; float: left; margin: 0.5em 20px 10px 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 300px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Iraq-07b32.jpg?uuid=8TCy5BgbEeSeO38vEQxiZQ" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><br /><span class="pb-caption">A photo posted on a militant Web site that frequently carries official statements from the Islamic State shows a bulldozer destroying a Sunni Ahmed al-Rifai shrine and tomb in Tal Afar, Iraq. (Uncredited/AP)</span></span></div> <div class="subhead" style="padding-bottom: 15px; padding-top: 10px; zoom: 0;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">‘People feel deceived’</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“It was truly shocking for the people of Mosul,” said a 37-year-old resident who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. “The people feel deceived by Islamic State. When they first came, they told us, ‘We will set you free,’ but they have turned against everyone.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said as residents gathered at the tomb of Jonah to see what had happened, some started shouting at the militants in anger.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nonetheless, the following day, the mosques and shrines of the prophets Seth and George were also destroyed. Axel Plathe, the Iraq representative for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, described the actions as “deliberate and systematic destruction” on a scale never seen before in Iraq’s modern history.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In total, at least seven sacred <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/25/after-leveling-iraqs-tomb-of-jonah-the-islamic-state-could-destroy-anything-in-the-bible/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">shrines have been razed</a>, said an official with the city’s Sunni endowment authority, which manages religious affairs.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“At first, we expected them to only blow up places for Shiite people,” said the official, who declined to be identified for security reasons. “Now they are blowing up everything.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">At least three Shiite mosques have been destroyed in Mosul, and more in nearby areas, he said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Islamic State militants argue that it is idolatrous for Muslims to revere shrines and tombs.</span></div> <div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mosul has some of the most diverse cultural history in Iraq, said Plathe.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“There are mosques built on churches, built on synagogues,” he said. “It’s a city that has all these layers, where cultural diversity and religious diversity has been existing for so many hundreds of years.”</span></div> <div class="subhead" style="padding-bottom: 15px; padding-top: 10px; zoom: 0;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Armed defiance grows</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The destruction of the religious sites has spurred an increasing backlash.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Because of what has happened with the shrines, the population has completely turned against Islamic State,” said Atheel al-Nujaifi, the former governor of Nineveh province who fled the city when the militants took control.</span></div> <div> <br /></div> <br /> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The imam of a Sufi mosque in the city was arrested by Islamic State when he and other worshipers protested the destruction of a shrine there, Nujaifi said. He was released on Tuesday after being held for two days, he said, and the mosque and shrine are still intact. Sufis are followers of a mystical branch of Islam.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The militants took their extreme doctrine a step further when they rigged the ancient Hadba minaret with explosives Saturday, residents said. Just last month, UNESCO­ had begun urgent restoration work to stabilize the minaret on the city’s oldest mosque.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“When people heard, they quickly gathered around and prevented it from being destroyed,” the 37-year-old Mosul resident said. “They were very, very angry.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That anger has fueled armed resistance to Islamic State, said Nujaifi, who said that at least five Islamic State members have been killed in recent days by the Mosul Battalions. Two were stabbed, while others were killed by sniper fire, he said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The people in the city of Mosul are busy forming armed groups and small brigades to work against Islamic State,” he said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said he was not directly involved with the Mosul Battalions, but is in contact with its leaders, who include former army officers from Saddam Hussein’s regime.</span></div> <br /> <div class="wp-inline-bb pb-centered-bb has-subscribe-promo" id="slug_inline_bb_3" style="background-position: 123px -398px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; float: none !important; height: auto !important; margin: 6px auto 30px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 300px;"> </div> <br /> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> Local insurgent groups, including the Naqshbandi army and other Sunni militants who had formerly fought U.S. soldiers, have yet to lend support to the battalions, he said. The killings could not be independently verified and have not been acknowledged by Islamic State.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a statement on its <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B5%D9%84/261442370716092" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">Facebook page</a>, the Mosul Battalions group says it began forming soon after Islamic State seized the city, but that the destruction of Mosul’s sacred shrines had sped up its military activities. It lists nine killings of Islamic State members in the past week. </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It stressed that it was not looking for the Iraqi army to return, saying the government forces are as bad as the militants.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“People are rising up, but the resistance is based on sniping at them from a long distance,” the Sunni endowment authority official said. “That’s all we can do.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That the Iraqi army did not allow Mosul residents to keep arms makes it even more difficult to turn on the extremists, he said. “But we are now against them, 100 percent.”</span></div> </div>

Razing of Mosul’s shrines sparks first signs of resistance against Islamic State: Who said prayer does not work?

People walk on the rubble of the destroyed mosque of the prophet Jonah in Mosul on July 24. The Muslim shrine was destroyed by Islamic Sta...

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Something is happening in the spirit realm and God help us not to just know it but to do something about our lives

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="inline-content inline-photo" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <h1 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.45em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">After leveling Iraq’s Tomb of Jonah, the Islamic State could destroy ‘anything in the Bible’</span></span></h1> <div class="left social-tools-wrapper" style="float: left;"> <ul class="social-tools inline top" style="display: inline; margin-bottom: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px;"> <li class="first tool facebook" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px 30px -4px; padding: 0.8em 1.3em;"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/25/after-leveling-iraqs-tomb-of-jonah-the-islamic-state-could-destroy-anything-in-the-bible/?tid=pm_national_pop#" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="fa fa-facebook-square" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); display: inline-block;"></span></a></li> </ul> </div> <br /> <article><div class="inline-content inline-video" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <div class="posttv-video-embed" data-processed="1" data-uuid="ba9f429c-1396-11e4-ac56-773e54a65906" style="height: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 56.25% !important; position: relative;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/c/embed/ba9f429c-1396-11e4-ac56-773e54a65906?e=null" style="height: 356px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 599px;"></iframe><em style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></em></div> <div class="posttv-video-embed" data-processed="1" data-uuid="ba9f429c-1396-11e4-ac56-773e54a65906" style="height: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 56.25% !important; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Video of the destruction of the Tomb of Jonah, also known as the Mosque of Jonah, by the Islamic State. </span></div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Jonah’s main appearance in the Old Testament is short, but none too sweet.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As recounted in the Book of Jonah, God asked Jonah to preach. Not thinking himself cut out for the evangelizing game, Jonah ran away to sea.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But then Yahweh sent a great storm. When Jonah’s shipmates found out he was running from the Man Upstairs, they regretfully threw him overboard. Rather than let Jonah drown, God sent a great fish (or a whale, depending on the translation) to swallow him and — yuck — vomit him on dry land. Once saved, Jonah did preach to the people — but then got angry with God when He spared the wicked.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The end.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But as reluctant a prophet as Jonah was, his purported tomb in Mosul, Iraq, is a holy site for Muslims – even though it’s not likely the final resting place of a man purported to live in a fish’s tummy for three days. Instead, wrote Columbia University Near Eastern history PhD student <a href="http://gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/what-is-the-tomb-of-the-prophet-jonah/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">Christopher Jones</a>, the tomb is a sacred place “to meditate on the questions raised by the story of Jonah: questions of justice, obedience, providence, fairness and divine mercy.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Until this month, when it was destroyed by the Islamic State.</span></div> <div class="inline-content inline-photo" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 20px 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="" data-hi-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2014/07/04329142.jpg" data-low-res-src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://img.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2014/07/04329142.jpg&w=480" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2014/07/04329142.jpg" style="border: 0px; width: 599px;" /><br /><span class="pb-caption">Iraqis inspect the wreckage of the grave of the Nebi Yunus, or the prophet Jonah, in Mosul, Iraq, on July 24, 2014. (EPA)</span></span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-jihadists-blow-jonahs-tomb-mosul-official-220531959.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">Agence France-Presse</a> confirmed rumors of the tomb’s fate with an Iraqi official. The official said Islamic State forces closed the mosque and took an hour wiring it with explosive charges. Then:</span></span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Boom.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Jonah’s tomb “has been turned to dust,” the official said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Islamic State isn’t new to this. As it establishes a caliphate to spread its ultraconservative faith, it’s destroyed cultural artifacts including Sunni, Shia and Sufi sites, <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/isis-destroys-shiite-mosques-and-shrines-iraq-257683" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">according to Newsweek</a>, and replaced the crosses on Mosul’s Syrian Orthodox cathedral with black flags.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Why?</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“It indicates they are going for total eradication not just of their enemies but even of the possibility of people living together under their rule,” Sam Hardy, a professor at the American University of Rome and author of the blog <a href="http://conflictantiquities.wordpress.com/about-contact-employ/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">Conflict Antiquities</a>, told The Washington Post in a phone interview.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Sometimes the practitioners of a new religion feel compelled to recognize a place as sacred, and develop their own reasons to continue to venerate it,”<a href="http://gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/what-is-the-tomb-of-the-prophet-jonah/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">Jones wrote</a>. “Other times, they choose to demonstrate the superiority of their own religion over other belief systems by destroying their sacred spaces and building their own in their place.”</span></div> <div class="inline-content inline-photo-right" style="border: 0px none; clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 10px 20px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 300px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="A combination photo of the 55-metre-high Buddha statue in Bamiyan, central Afghanistan in December 18, 1997 (left) and after its destruction on March 26, 2001. It has been ten years since the statue was destroyed by the Taliban on March 2, 2001. REUTERS/Muzammil Pasha, Sayed Salahuddin/Files (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS ANNIVERSARY)" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2014/07/BUDDHAS01_1299357901_14_0_1592758172-300x227.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><br /><span class="pb-caption">Left: the 55-metre-high Buddha statue in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, on Dec. 18, 1997. Right: After its destruction on March 26, 2001. (REUTERS/Muzammil Pasha, Sayed Salahuddin)</span></span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Of course, governments and religions have destroyed antiquities since, well, antiquity. Romans destroyed Jerusalem’s Second Temple not long after Christ. During the Crusades, Christians destroyed mosques. The Nazis destroyed <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/24/tired-of-selling-guns-and-drugs-try-art-theft-the-third-most-profitable-criminal-endeavor/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">degenerate art</a>. And the Taliban destroyed the<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/28/AR2011022803105.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001</a>.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The problem: In Iraq, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/in-northern-iraq-gains-by-islamic-state-threaten-centuries-old-christian-town/2014/07/19/7088f3b6-0f53-11e4-8c9a-923ecc0c7d23_story.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">the Islamic State is advancing.</a> If it’s willing to destroy anything other religions — even other Muslims — hold sacred, what’s next?</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Basically pretty much anything in the Bible,” Hardy said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">What can be done?</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“If we didn’t intervene when they were killing people, it would be kind of grotesque to intervene over a building,” Hardy said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Perhaps the Islamic State will stop on its own?</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“You think tactically they’d avoid provoking enemies,” Hardy said, but Islamic State forces “seem happy to do that. Possibly they are doing stuff to get media attention.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mission accomplished.</span></div> </article><br /> <div class="post-body-sig-line" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 20px;"> <span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/justin-moyer" style="text-decoration: none;"></a></span></span></div> <h1 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.45em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">In northern Iraq, gains by Islamic State threaten centuries-old Christian town</span></span></h1> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> </div> <div class="left social-tools-wrapper" style="float: left;"> <ul class="social-tools inline top" style="display: inline; margin-bottom: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px;"> <li class="first tool facebook" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px 30px -4px; padding: 0.8em 1.3em;"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/in-northern-iraq-gains-by-islamic-state-threaten-centuries-old-christian-town/2014/07/19/7088f3b6-0f53-11e4-8c9a-923ecc0c7d23_story.html#" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="fa fa-facebook-square" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); display: inline-block;"></span></a></li> </ul> </div> <br /> <h2 class="deck" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; widows: auto;"> <div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px; margin-top: 0px;"> </div> </div> </h2> <div class="inline-content inline-video" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <div class="posttv-video-embed" data-processed="1" data-uuid="889e8220-104a-11e4-ac56-773e54a65906" style="height: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 56.25% !important; position: relative;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/c/embed/889e8220-104a-11e4-ac56-773e54a65906?e=null" style="height: 356px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 599px;"></iframe></div> <div class="inline-video-caption" style="margin: 4px 0px 0px;"> <span class="pb-caption" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Hundreds of Christians are driven out of Mosul after being issued an ultimatum by Islamic State fighters to either convert to Islam pay a religious tax, or face the sword. (Reuters)</span></div> <div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; color: #333333; font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue Light', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"> <span class="pb-caption" style="color: #6e6e6e; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="dateline">BAKHDIDA, Iraq —</span> In the center of this hardscrabble Christian town there’s a 12th-century church where visitors can peer into an underground passageway that once allowed the faithful to hide from Muslim marauders.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The tunnels below have since crumbled, but the threat still looms on northern Iraq’s surrounding plains.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When advancing Islamic State militants launched mortar attacks in late June, nearly all of Bakhdida’s 50,000 residents <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/iraqi-christians-seek-safety-with-kurds-as-thousands-flee-isils-advance/article19346793/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">fled overland</a> to Irbil, the capital of the Iraqi region of Kurdistan, for protection. Were it not for Kurdish pesh merga forces that swept in to beat back the onslaught, this historic Christian enclave, known to locals as Qaraqosh, would be deserted.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In recent days, most people have come back to their homes. But dire water and fuel shortages, electrical blackouts and a lack of work are strangling returnees who must also grapple with the mental strain of living within firing range of al-Qaeda-inspired Sunni jihadists.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">With Iraq at risk of fracturing along sectarian fault lines, local leaders fear the loss of one of the world’s oldest Christian communities and its heritage as more and more residents move to Kurdish cities and neighboring countries. On Friday, the exodus was accelerated when the Islamic State<a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/iraq-christians-told-convert-face-death-2014718111040982432.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">decreed</a> that Christian holdouts in the city of Mosul must convert to Islam or pay a special tax — with death as a “last resort.’’</span></div> <div class="inline-content inline-video" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 20px 0px;"> <div class="posttv-video-embed" data-processed="1" data-uuid="d928b990-0f5f-11e4-b0dd-edc009ac1f9d" style="height: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 56.25% !important; position: relative;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/c/embed/d928b990-0f5f-11e4-b0dd-edc009ac1f9d?e=null" style="height: 356px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 599px;"></iframe></div> <div class="inline-video-caption" style="margin: 4px 0px 0px;"> <span class="pb-caption" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Five car bombs kill at least 26 people in mainly Shi'ite districts of Baghdad on Saturday. Sunni insurgents are within striking distance of Baghdad. (Reuters)</span></div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Bags are packed; people are leaving for good because it’s almost impossible to live here right now,” said Louis Marcus Ayub, 54, a Syrian Catholic member of the Bakhdida city council. “If there is no political solution, we’re in danger of disappearing.”</span></div> <div class="wp-inline-bb pb-centered-bb has-subscribe-promo" id="slug_inline_bb" style="background-position: 123px -398px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; float: none !important; height: 250px; margin: -20px auto 30px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 300px;"> <div id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_6__container__" style="border: 0pt none;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_6" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_6" scrolling="no" style="border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 300px;" width="300"></iframe></span></div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Iraqi Christians have endured greater <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2010/11/24/november-26-2010-disappearing-christians-of-iraq/7568/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">persecution</a> since the 2003 U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. In the sectarian conflict that followed, a surge of harassment, church bombings and other deadly attacks caused the population to shrink from 1.5 million to about 400,000.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In 2008, a <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95343489" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">wave of violence</a> targeted Christians living in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city and an ancient hub of Christianity in the region. Without a militia of their own, thousands found safe haven in Bakhdida, about 19 miles to the southeast.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When Islamic State militants staged a lightning attack June 10 on Mosul and took over the city, fresh waves of Christians fled to Bakhdida; only this time, militants stayed on their heels. In less than 48 hours, a flurry of mortar rounds and stories of kidnapping and murder of their co-religionists in Syria combined to empty the town.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“They want to kill us,” said Martin Jameel, 25, a shopkeeper who had just come back from Ainkawa, a Christian suburb of Irbil full of displaced families, to check on his goods. “We have no oil, no weapons. We are not Muslims, so they think we are enemies.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Syrian Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, Yohannna Petros Mouche, was one of the few who stayed behind. He understood that many families had left “to lead dignified lives,” but he’s resolved not to go.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“If we all leave, it sends the message that there is nowhere safe for Christians to live in Iraq — and this worries me,” he said, gripping the pewter cross that hung heavy from his neck.</span></div> <div class="wp-inline-bb pb-centered-bb has-subscribe-promo" id="slug_inline_bb_2" style="background-position: 123px -398px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; float: none !important; margin: -20px auto 30px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 300px;"> <div id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_10__container__" style="border: 0pt none;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_10" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_10" scrolling="no" style="border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 300px;" width="300"></iframe></span></div> </div> <div class="inline-content inline-graphic" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 20px 0px;"> <span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/world/map-how-isis-is-carving-out-a-new-country/1095/" style="text-decoration: none;"><img class="" data-hi-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/03/National-Enterprise/Graphics/w-isis-Iraq-Syria_7-2-14_promo.jpg?uuid=ZXqcLAMFEeSGbpQiagK8jQ" data-low-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_400w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/03/National-Enterprise/Graphics/w-isis-Iraq-Syria_7-2-14_promo.jpg?uuid=ZXqcLAMFEeSGbpQiagK8jQ" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/03/National-Enterprise/Graphics/w-isis-Iraq-Syria_7-2-14_promo.jpg?uuid=ZXqcLAMFEeSGbpQiagK8jQ" style="border: 0px; width: 599px;" /></a><br /><span class="pb-caption">How ISIS is carving out a new country</span></span></span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I’m not a vagabond. This is my home, and I will die here if necessary.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The seminary he overseas in Bakhdida had already become a way station for 35 Christian families and clergy from Mosul. According to Father Amanoel Adel Kalloo, one of the displaced, the city’s Christian community has plunged from about 3,000 to between 200 to 300 since the Islamic State takeover.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On two trips back to the city to collect belongings, he saw that the homes of religious leaders had been ransacked and taken over by militants, he said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Muslims renting property from Christians have been ordered to pay the Islamic State instead, and employers have been told to lay off all Christian workers. For the first time in 1,600 years, there is no Sunday Mass.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">While lives have so far been spared, Kalloo said the early July disappearance of two women who ran an orphanage, along with three children under their care, has stoked anxieties. He believes the rebel group was behind the abduction, but no one has yet received any information on their condition or whereabouts.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In Bakhdida, residents are grateful to Kurdish forces that have established a security perimeter around the city, allowing some breathing room for people to return. The Kurds have since outfitted a local Christian “protection committee” with bulletproof vests and assault rifles to patrol the streets.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">No hostilities have been exchanged in more than two weeks, but if Islamic State militants go on the offensive again, “we will defend them [the Christians] until the last drop of blood,” vowed Capt. Mohammad Kamal Nader, a pesh merga officer in charge of the security at the town’s main checkpoint. “It is our duty.”</span></div> <div class="wp-inline-bb pb-centered-bb has-subscribe-promo" id="slug_inline_bb_3" style="background-position: 123px -398px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; float: none !important; margin: -20px auto 30px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 300px;"> <div id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_9__container__" style="border: 0pt none;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_9" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_9" scrolling="no" style="border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 300px;" width="300"></iframe></span></div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For now, the overwhelming concern is water. Area taps have run dry since the Islamic State took Mosul and cut off the town’s Tigris River water supply amid 100-degree-plus temperatures.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">All water now has to be trucked in from outside at great expense.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Adding to people’s woes are electricity blackouts for the better part of each day. The main hospital is short of doctors who have stopped coming from Mosul. And without funds to pay town employees, heaps of garbage are piling up along sidewalks that remain largely empty throughout the day.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Bashar Toma, a 50-year-old mason, was among those preparing to leave. Last month, a pair of Islamic State mortars crashed onto the roof of the six-bedroom home Toma had painstakingly built to accommodate his children.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He thanked God that no one was hurt. But the constant psychological stress of living less than three miles from an aggressive and well-armed rebel force — whose forward positions are visible from his roof — has become too much to bear for the lifelong resident.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the morning, Toma would move his family to a cramped apartment in Irbil.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“It hurts my heart to leave,” he said, “but I fear it will only get worse here.”</span></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: large;"><b>What Jihadists are Doing in Syria and Iraq While Gaza Grabs the Headlines</b></span><br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">By Ishaan Tharoor</span></div> <div class="inline-content inline-photo" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <br /> <br /> <article><div class="inline-content inline-photo" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; width: 599px;"><img class="" data-hi-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_908w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/05/Foreign/Images/Nic6346128.jpg" data-low-res-src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_908w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/05/Foreign/Images/Nic6346128.jpg&w=480" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_908w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/05/Foreign/Images/Nic6346128.jpg" style="border: 0px; width: 599px;" /></span><br /><span class="pb-caption">An image grab taken from a propaganda video released on July 5, 2014, by al-Furqan Media allegedly shows the leader of the Islamic State  jihadist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a.k.a Caliph Ibrahim, adressing Muslim worshippers at a mosque in the militant-held northern Iraqi city of Mosul.  (AFP PHOTO/HO/AL-FURQAN MEDIA)</span></span></div> </article></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The world is transfixed by the conflict in Gaza, as the death tolls of both Palestinians and Israelis killed in the fighting continue to rise. It has animated global public opinion and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/07/22/how-the-gaza-conflict-is-being-fought-in-8-cities-across-the-world/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">sparked protests</a> in myriad far-flung cities.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But as the rockets and bombs fall, a deadlier war next door rolls on. The Syrian civil war has claimed 170,000 lives in three years; this past weekend's death toll in Syria was greater than what took place in Gaza. By some accounts, the past week may have been <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28454655" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">the deadliest</a> in the conflict's grim history. Meanwhile, the extremist insurgents of the Islamic State (also <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/06/18/isis-or-isil-the-debate-over-what-to-call-iraqs-terror-group/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">known as ISIS</a>), have continued their ravages over a swath of territory stretching from eastern Syria to the environs of Baghdad, Iraq's capital; the spike in violence in Iraq has led to more than <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/18/iraqi-civilian-death-toll-5500-2014-isis" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">5,500 civilian deaths</a> in the first six months of this year.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Over the weekend, Islamic State militants battled forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over a gas field in central Syria. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, some 700 people have died in just two days of fighting, <a href="http://syriahr.com/en/index.php?option=com_news&nid=2361&Itemid=2&task=displaynews#.U9A-1vldXTo" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">including employees</a> working at the facility.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Hundreds of miles away in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, activists and observers <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/19/iraq-isis-abducting-killing-expelling-minorities" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">report</a> a ferocious campaign against religious minorities waged by the Islamic State, which earlier declared <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/06/30/the-new-islamic-caliphate-and-its-war-against-history/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">the establishment of a "caliphate"</a> in the lands it controls. The jihadists, who espouse a puritanical, intolerant brand of Sunni Islam, have instituted strict sharia law. According to the Associated Press, the militants have even forced shopkeepers in Mosul to <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/variety/2014/07/22/Veil-your-mannequins-ISIS-tells-Iraqi-shopkeepers.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">place veils</a> over the mannequins in their storefront windows.</span></div> <div class="wp-inline-bb pb-centered-bb has-subscribe-promo" id="slug_inline_bb" style="background-position: 123px -398px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; float: none !important; height: 250px; margin: -20px auto 30px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 300px;"> <div id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world/worldviews/blog/worldviews_6__container__" style="border: 0pt none;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world/worldviews/blog/worldviews_6" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world/worldviews/blog/worldviews_6" scrolling="no" style="border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 300px;" width="300"></iframe></span></div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Their other activities are far less amusing. On Thursday, a UN official told the BBC that the Islamic State had <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28466434" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">issued a fatwa</a>, ordering female circumcision for all girls and women between the ages of 11 and 46. But according to at least <a href="https://twitter.com/LeilaFadel/status/492292473272561665" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">one journalist</a>, who spoke with residents in Mosul, that report may be false.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Even then, the Islamic State has moved rapidly away from earlier proclamations encouraging coexistence. They ordered all Christians to either convert or leave towns and cities where the Islamic State holds sway by July 19. Otherwise, they would face execution. That edict triggered a sad exodus of Christian minorities in Iraq's embattled Nineveh plains, once the heartland for some of the world's most ancient Christian communities. The militants have <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/world/middleeast/isis-forces-last-iraqi-christians-to-flee-mosul.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">defiled historic tombs</a>, seized monasteries, kidnapped nuns and killed other minorities.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In total, more than 600,000 Iraqis were driven from their homes in June alone, a direct result of the Islamic State's dramatic advance through the country. (See the map below to get a sense of how Iraq's many upheavals have shaken its population since the 2003 U.S. invasion.)</span></div> <div class="has-subscribe-promo borB1S borT1S marB26 padB10 padT10"> </div> <div class="inline-content inline-photo inline-photo-center" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 20px 0px; text-align: center;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="Two Million Iraq Displacement v4" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/files/2014/07/iraqrefugeemap.jpg" style="border: 0px; max-width: 600px; width: 599px;" /></span></div> <div class="pb-caption" style="margin: 0px auto; max-width: 600px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Courtesy of the International Rescue Committee.</span></div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A report from Human Rights Watch published last week <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/19/iraq-isis-abducting-killing-expelling-minorities" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">documented</a>recent murders, abductions and attacks suffered by religious and ethnic minorities in and around Mosul:</span></div> <blockquote class="citation" style="border-left-width: 0px; margin: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 509px;"> <div style="margin-bottom: 22px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Since capturing Mosul on June 10, 2014, the armed Sunni extremist group has seized at least 200 Turkmen, Shabaks, and Yazidis, killed at least 11 of them, and ordered all Christians to convert to Islam, pay “tribute” money, or leave Mosul by July 19.<br /><br />On June 29, ISIS abducted two nuns and three Christian orphans, whom it held for 15 days. Around that same time, ISIS issued orders barring Yazidi and Christian employees, as well as ethnic Kurds, from returning to their government jobs in Mosul, two regional government officials and a priest told Human Rights Watch.<br /><br />Virtually all Turkmen and Shabaks – tens of thousands of families – have fled their communities near Mosul as a result of ISIS raids, in which the fighters seize local men and pillage homes and places of worship, residents of those villages said. Mosul’s few remaining Christian families also have fled, local priests said.</span></div> </blockquote> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On Sunday in Baghdad, the country's foremost Christian cleric, the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, lamented in a special sermon the fate of his flock. "How in the 21st century could people be forced from their houses just because they are Christian, or Shi'ite or Sunni or Yazidi?" he <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/21/isis-genghis-khan-iraq-chaldean_n_5603939.html?ir=Religion" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">asked</a>. "Christian families have been expelled from their houses and their valuables were stolen and ...their houses and property expropriated in the name of the Islamic State."</span></div> <div class="wp-inline-bb pb-centered-bb has-subscribe-promo" id="slug_inline_bb_2" style="background-position: 123px -398px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; float: none !important; margin: -20px auto 30px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 300px;"> <div id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world/worldviews/blog/worldviews_7__container__" style="border: 0pt none;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world/worldviews/blog/worldviews_7" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world/worldviews/blog/worldviews_7" scrolling="no" style="border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 300px;" width="300"></iframe></span></div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He went on to make a chilling, grand historic proclamation: "This has never happened in Christian or Islamic history. Even Genghis Khan or Hulagu didn't do this," he said. Hulagu Khan was the Mongol warlord whose horde swept through Mosul en route to sacking Baghdad in 1258, a bloody slaughter that snuffed out <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Abbasid_Caliphate.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">the proud Abbasid caliphate</a> that had flourished there since the 8th century. Baghdad would take hundreds of years to reemerge as a political center. Sako may be indulging in hyperbole, but he echoes the sense of fear and uncertainty now gripping the region.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the face of these traumas, some construe the heated attention on casualties in Gaza to reflect a kind of <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/07/obsessing-about-gaza-ignoring-syria-and-most-everything-else/374898/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">anti-Israeli bias</a>. That's a bit much: the thorny Israeli-Palestinian crisis is at the heart of regional geopolitics and polarizes the conversation in ways the upheavals further east just don't. No one, for example, is <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2014/07/23/the-most-vile-op-ed-you-will-read-about-gaza/?hpid=z3" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">trying to make excuses</a> for the loss of civilian life in Iraq or Syria. But many more should be aware of how alarming the situation has grown.</span></div> </div>

Something is happening in the spirit realm and God help us not to just know it but to do something about our lives

After leveling Iraq’s Tomb of Jonah, the Islamic State could destroy ‘anything in the Bible’ Video of the destruction of the T...

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