ISIS Failure in Kirkuk Shows Its Loss of Sunni Arab Support
In June 2014, it took only several hundred Islamic State fighters to conquer Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul, with two entire Iraqi army divisions fleeing without much of a fight and many residents welcoming the invaders. Last Friday, just as Iraqi, Kurdish and coalition troops were inching closer to Mosul to retake it, Islamic State […]Yaroslav Trofimov writes for The Wall Street Journal:
In June 2014, it took only several hundred Islamic State fighters to conquer Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul, with two entire Iraqi army divisions fleeing without much of a fight and many residents welcoming the invaders.
Last Friday, just as Iraqi, Kurdish and coalition troops were inching closer to Mosul to retake it, Islamic State launched a similar surprise attack on another major Iraqi city, Kirkuk. As the news of the assault spread, Islamic State authorities in Mosul staged street celebrations to salute the imminent addition of Kirkuk to their caliphate.
That attack, however, quickly ended in failure. The main reason is that Sunni Arabs, many of whom once viewed Islamic State as a liberator from Shiite or Kurdish oppression, have grown increasingly disgusted by the militant group.
