WATCH: New ISIS video shows Kurdish soldiers paraded in cages ~ InfoTrove

Monday, February 23, 2015

WATCH: New ISIS video shows Kurdish soldiers paraded in cages




Watch video at the bottom of the article.

Islamic State (ISIS) militants released new footage Saturday that allegedly shows 21 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters being paraded through crowded streets in the embattled Iraqi province of Kirkuk.

The beginning of the footage shows several men in cages being interviewed by an Islamic State militant holding a microphone with the group's insignia, before cutting to clips of several trucks with cages in the back being driven through cheering crowds. It is unclear where in the Kirkuk province this footage may have been taken or when it was recorded.

ISIS and the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have been locked in a series of tense battles for control of the province since January.

 
The scene shown in the video echoes of an earlier execution the group carried out on Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh who was burned alive by ISIS militants while locked in a cage.

Images showing ISIS fighters parading Peshmerga fighters around a crowded street had also circulated earlier in February, so it is unclear when this newly released video was taken. Other video taken from the crowd shows similar scenes.

The footage may have been taken in the town of Hawija, located southwest of the city of Kirkuk, based on information from local Kurdish media and distinctive landmarks seen in the new video.

On Feb. 19, another ISIS-affiliated account posted a video claiming to show a raid against Peshmerga positions in Kirkuk.

Kirkuk, located along the border of Kurdish northern Iraq and the rest of the country, is home to Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, and all have competing claims to the area.

Kurdish forces claimed control of the city just days after the Islamic State group seized northern Iraqi cities including Mosul and Tikrit.

Holding onto Kirkuk has not been easy. Last month, ISIS fighters — aided by what the Kurds say was a Sunni sleeper cell in the city — stormed an abandoned Kirkuk hotel, and then staged a surprise attack on a Peshmerga outpost, killing a top commander and several of his troops.