Dated JUNE

ISIS Completes one year of Formation and Operation---One year after the socalled Islamic State took control of Mosul, and declares Caliphate across Iraq and
Syria.
June 9th completed one year of the ISIS year of death and destruction
Some of the key events in its list of atrocities have been mentioned herewith
1. June 9, 2014: IS-led offensive begins in Iraq's second city Mosul. 10: Mosul
falls and the surrounding province of Nineveh follows as multiple Iraqi security
forces divisions collapse. Then-premier Nuri al-Maliki announces the government
will arm citizens who volunteer to fight.
2. June 11: Tikrit, another major city north of Baghdad, falls. 13: Grand Ayatollah
Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite cleric, calls on Iraqis to take up arms against IS. The
group claims it executed 1,700 mainly Shia recruits, releasing photos showing the
killings.
3. June 29: IS declares a cross-border Islamic "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria, headed
by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

AUGUST-4. August 2: IS launches a renewed northern offensive, driving Iraqi Kurdish forces
back and targeting minority groups with mass killings, enslavement and rape.
------Thousands of members of the Yazidi religious minority are besieged on
Mount Sinjar, drawing international concern and calls for intervention.
5. August 8: US begins air strikes in Iraq. An international coalition follows suit.

6. August 14: Maliki, whose policies helped fuel IS's rise, steps aside, and is
replaced by Haider al-Abadi.

7. August 19: IS says it has beheaded US journalist James Foley, releasing a video
of the killing. Similar shocking beheadings take the lives of journalists Steven
Sotloff, Kenji Goto, aid workers David Haines, Alan Henning and Peter Kassig,
and Goto's friend Haruna Yukawa.
8. August 22: Shia militiamen gun down 70 people in an apparent revenge attack at
a Sunni mosque in Diyala province.

September
9. September 23: Anti-IS air campaign expands to Syria

October
10. October 25: Abadi declares first significant government victory, in the Jurf alSakhr area near Baghdad
11. October 29: IS executes dozens of Albu Nimr tribesmen. More mass killings
follow

November
12. November 14: Iraqi forces recapture the strategic town of Baiji, but
subsequently lose it.

January
13. January 25, 2015: Witnesses and Sunni leaders accuse Shia militiamen of
executing over 70 residents in Diyala province.
14. January 26: Staff lieutenant general Abdulamir al-Zaidi announces Diyala has
been "liberated" from IS.

February
15. February 3: IS video shows Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh being burned
alive in a cage after his December capture in Syria.
16. February 26: IS releases video of militants destroying priceless ancient
artefacts in a Mosul museum

March
17. March 2: Iraq launches massive operation to retake Tikrit from IS.
18. March 5: Iraq says IS has begun "bulldozing" the ancient Assyrian city of
Nimrud. IS later releases a video of militants smashing artefacts before blowing up
the site.
19. March 31: Abadi announces Tikrit has been retaken, a victory marred by progovernment forces burning and looting dozens of houses and shops.

April

20. April 5: IS releases video of militants destroying artefacts at the ancient city of
Hatra, a UNESCO world heritage site

May
21. May 17: IS seizes Anbar capital Ramadi, which along with the capture of
Palmyra (ancient city) in Syria a few days later signal its most significant victories
in almost a year.

June
22. Iraqi forces advance against the IS town of Baiji, seen as a crucial target in plan
to retake Mosul.
However, battling the Islamic state it still remains a formidable force in the West
Asia region. Off late is has also regained from its initial setback and initiated its
branches in countries like Nigeria, Lebanon, Libya and Afghanistan. According to
some sources, IS flag has also been seen in some parts of Kashmir In India along
with some Pakistan flags in the same areas. However official confirmation from
sources is yet to be finalized. (The Hindu, June 12th )
---The advantage for the ISIS is that perhaps none of its enemies have a
coordinated approach against them. They are driven by some common religious
goals of defeating their enemy but by their own self-interests and sectorial
calculations.
In Syria, the regime of Bashar al Assad was the most potent to destroy ISIS. But
the secret plans of the USA to take control of the oil/gas pipelines, and hinder the
possibility of a possible threat against the global giant Russia is well estimated.
Again, allies of the USA like Saudi Arabia and Turkey which are against the
Bashar regime are indirectly aiding the rise of ISIS

The Kurdish factor also plays a major role in the Turkish problem. The Kurds are
against the Turkish regime. ISIS is also active in Turkey and fighting the Kurds.
The Turkish government thus has no other alternative apart from siding with the
ISIS
Coming to the Iraq factor, the army which was disbanded and rebuilt by America,
is largely been sectarian and too inefficient to mount a major attack on its own.
The Hezbollah might be efficient in guarding the Lebanese-Syrian border from the
ISIS, but it itself is considered to be terrorist by the US and Iranian lackey by the
Saudis, hence wont be aiding by either of the two.
Iran has sent Shia militia groups to the border front but they are seen with
suspicion in Iraqs Sunni dominated areas for the same religious issues
Thus the forces battling IS should come up with a comprehensive approach and
needs to rescue the ongoing clamor from these sectarian conundrum and undertake
some fundamental cohesive stratategy. Until that happens West Asia is yet to see
some more bloodsheds.