Comment on In Iraq's Mosul, radicals unleash their vision

In Iraq's Mosul, radicals unleash their vision

When fighters from the Islamic State group loaded with heavy explosives converged on the site, Mosulis living nearby rushed to the courtyard below the minaret, sat on the ground and linked arms to form a human chain to protect it, two residents who witnessed the event told The Associated Press on Monday. Over the past two weeks, the extremists ruling Iraq's second largest city have shrugged off previous restraint and embarked on a brutal campaign to purge Mosul of anything that challenges their radical interpretation of Islam, even Muslim shrines that in their iconoclastic fervor they condemn as apostasy. When militants from the Islamic State group first swept into in Mosul in June, they proclaimed themselves the mainly Sunni city's savior from the Shiite-led Iraqi government in Baghdad. The Sunni militants target Sunni Muslim shrines because the sites are dedicated to popular historical religious figures. The minaret is pictured on Iraq's 10,000-dinar bill. [...] local legends surround the minaret, and extremists generally see such stories as un-Islamic inventions. The militants hung banners at on the wall of the Heibat Khatoun mosque before Friday prayers instructing women to wear loose clothing and cover their faces. [...] its fighters have banned music, imposed full veils, imposed taxes on Christians and killed people in main squares for defying their Shariah rules. Iraq's Mosul was once famed for its religious and ethnic diversity, and it is one of few cities in Iraq where a significant number of Christians remained after the U.S.-led invasion.

 

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