Iraqi forces have taken back a vital conduit from Islamic State, but questions remain
Days after Islamic State blitzed through northern Iraq and snatched the city of Mosul in mid-2014, it made a powerful statement of conquest: a bulldozer punched a hole through the sand berm marking the line between Iraq and Syria, an event captured in a polished propaganda video titled “Kasr al Hudood” — Breaking of the […]Nabih Bulos writes for LA Times:
Days after Islamic State blitzed through northern Iraq and snatched the city of Mosul in mid-2014, it made a powerful statement of conquest: a bulldozer punched a hole through the sand berm marking the line between Iraq and Syria, an event captured in a polished propaganda video titled “Kasr al Hudood” — Breaking of the Borders.
The demolition, set to the strains of a rousing nasheed, or Islamic chant, and attended by the group’s top commanders, underscored Islamic State’s claim of creating a “caliphate” based on religion, not national borders.
That hole in the berm is now blocked, the militants (at least on the Iraqi side) chased away. In their stead, fighters with the Shiite-dominated auxiliary force known as the Hashd al Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Units, maintain a lonely vigil over this desolate corner of the desert, their weapons trained upon Islamic State positions on the very edge of Syria.
