Bloody Wednesday in Iraq and Syria; ISIS Executes and Assassinated 55 People

The Islamic State group, or ISIS, executed or assassinated over 50 people in Syria and Iraq on Wednesday. The group also shot down a military helicopter in Iraq on Thursday, resulting in the deaths of two pilots. According to the Associated Press, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, ISIS beheaded 33 people in the town of Al-Mayadeen, Deir ez-Zor province, on April 5, marking the largest massacre committed by ISIS since the beginning of 2017. The report states that the victims were all young men aged between 18 and 25, but their identities have not yet been confirmed, and it is unclear whether they were civilians or captured soldiers. Meanwhile, CNN reported, citing Iraqi police officials, that ISIS killed 22 people in an attack on a police checkpoint in Tikrit, Iraq, on the same day. According to these officials, the attacks by ISIS militants in Tikrit were suicide attacks, but before detonating themselves, they opened fire on police officers and civilians. These attacks also left 31 injured. Tikrit, the hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein, was under ISIS control for a period but was liberated by Iraqi forces about two years ago. The Iraqi army and police forces are currently focused on liberating the city of Mosul, which is considered the main stronghold of ISIS in the country. Iraqi military sources announced on Thursday that ISIS targeted and shot down an army helicopter over Mosul. According to an Iraqi army statement, this helicopter was on a mission to support police forces in western Mosul, and with its crash, two Iraqi pilots were also killed. This is the first time during the Mosul war that ISIS militants have succeeded in shooting down an Iraqi army helicopter. ISIS forces, having lost control over eastern Mosul, continue to resist in the northwestern areas and the old center of Mosul, using civilians as human shields.