Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi may have announced himself the undisputed caliph of the Islamic State, but there are many in the ranks who are opposing ISIS. Taking its internal fights to the streets, the ISIS recently executed 12 of its own Sunni militants in Saadiya.
The 12 bodies were found thrown on the streets of the Iraqi town located in the North of Baghdad on Monday. All the 12 dead belonged to the Naqshbandi Army, a group led by Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a former commander and Vice President of Iraq during Saddam Hussein's reign.
According to the ABC news report, the 12 men were captured during the tussle between ISIS and Sunni militants with allegiance to Naqshbandi Army, and all the bodies bore signs of a brutal execution.
Since the announcement of the Caliphate by ISIS, there has been increasing internal conflicts in the group, especially with Naqshbandi Army, which does not agree to the Iraq borders being defined by ISIS. The former Saddam allies also are opposed to the severe interpretation of Islam by ISIS militants.
The fight between the former ISIS allies and the Al-Qaeda off shoot comes at a time, when ISIS wants to intensify its battle to conquer Baghdad.
A prominent Iraqi Sunni cleric also earlier this month blamed ISIS for killing hundreds of Sunnis, including clerics. Talking before a live television audience in Lebanon, cleric Khaled al-Mulla stated that while ISIS claims to be the highest authority for protecting the Sunnis, it has the blood of hundreds of Sunnis on its hand.
"We, especially as Sunnis in Iraq, have a bitter experience with Al Qaeda and its ilk," BreitBart quoted Mulla. Al Qaeda and its off-shoot ISIS has been responsible for the killings of more than 300 Sunni imams and preachers, he added.
Meanwhile, in Syria, the ISIS jihadists have taken over the Deir Ezzor on the Euphrates River. ISIS is also said to have executed the Jabhat al-Nusra rebel commander of the post and then raised its black flag over the city, reported Independent. Similarly, last month, the group crucified several young Sunni men, who were found to hold moderate views against the Assad government.
