(Washington Post) Liz Sly - The Islamic State is being crushed, its fighters are in retreat and the caliphate it sought to build is crumbling. The biggest losers, however, are millions of ordinary Sunnis whose lives have been ravaged by their murderous rampage. The vast majority of the 4.2 million Iraqis who have been displaced from their homes by the Islamic State's war are Sunnis. In Syria, Sunnis are also bearing the brunt of the violence and dislocation as Sunni towns and neighborhoods are being leveled by Syrian and Russian airstrikes. Although the territory seized by the Islamic State is mostly Sunni, the fighters wresting it back are overwhelmingly Shiite or Kurd. In some places, liberators with no previous ties to the communities they have freed remain behind after the battles have been won. In Kazukha, Iraq, the residents belonged to a tribe that supported the Islamic State and will never be allowed to return, said Capt. Aziz Haji Khalaf, a Yazidi. "They were all with Daesh [ISIS], and they participated in the massacres of Yazidis. For this reason, we cannot live with Arabs ever again."
2016-11-24 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive