Islam

raqi forces have seized a huge cache of deadly ISIS weapons after recapturing parts of Ramadi, near Baghdad. They paraded rockets made from gas canisters through the besieged city and laid out hundreds of explosive shells after a breakthrough battle against the terror group. These weapons bear a striking resemblance to weapons used by the US funded "Free Syrian Army," which later turned out to another radical jihadist group.

Groups such as Isis and al-Qaeda succeeded in gaining a degree of legitimacy for their cause, by dressing it as a twisted heavenly mission. They are now viewed globally as Muslim fanatics rather than the hardened criminals, money launderers and drug lords that they are.

As the Islamic State’s territory continues to be squeezed, most notably in the Iraqi city of Mosul, primary revenue-generating streams are drying up—including oil and gas extortion, taxation of the local populations it once controlled, and money earned from phosphate and cement plants. This will likely force the group to seek new, opportunistic revenue streams to exploit, including drug trafficking, to raise money.

ISIS barbarians are putting up fierce resistance as they stage their final defence of Mosul, unleashing snipers, armed drones and poison gas car bombs. Correspondent Owen Holdaway experienced the terror group’s brutality first hand when he was caught up in an attack on the frontline in the Iraqi city.

All nine had been accused in an ISIS sharia court of being involved in a resistance movement before being sentenced to death.