Monday, June 30, 2014

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SeaWorld ride gets stuck for hours
6/30/2014 1:26:49 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Park: Employees provided guests with water and snacks
  • Engineers worked for four hours to restore power

(CNN) -- Four dozen people were stuck for hours on a ride at SeaWorld San Diego on Sunday after a power failure, the amusement park said.

Forty-six riders and two SeaWorld employees were stuck on the Skytower ride for four hours until engineers were able to restore power, the park said.

"The guests were never in danger and park officials were in constant communication with them while the power failure was being addressed," a park spokesman said. "Two SeaWorld employees were also in the Skytower providing guests with water and snacks."

The Skytower takes park visitors on an elevator ride 320-feet high for a panoramic view of the city and the ocean.

 

Benghazi suspect read rights?
6/30/2014 12:41:31 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • NEW: Official: Abu Khatallah denied involvement but gave info on others
  • Abu Khatallah gave information before and after he was told his Miranda rights
  • Sen. Lindsey Graham: Mirandizing Abu Khatallah "would be a mistake for the ages"
  • He is suspected of being the ringleader of the September 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya

Washington (CNN) -- During his two weeks aboard a ship to the United States, Ahmed Abu Khatallah was questioned by FBI interrogators over his alleged role in the 2012 Benghazi attacks that left four Americans dead.

As it turns out, he was interrogated both before and after authorities told him of his Miranda rights -- which give him the right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination, a U.S. official told CNN.

But Abu Khatallah continued providing information to officials after being advised of those rights, the official said.

The handling of his case has triggered fallout in Washington.

"I have serious concerns that conducting a rushed interrogation onboard a ship and then turning Abu Khatallah over to our civilian courts risks losing critical intelligence that could lead us to other terrorists or prevent future attacks," Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-New Hampshire, said in a statement Saturday.

A U.S. official told CNN that Abu Khatallah denied participation in the Benghazi attacks during his interviews with interrogators -- but provided information on others he said participated and were behind the attacks.

It wasn't clear if he provided the information before or after he was advised of his Miranda warning.

Shortly after the White House announced the capture earlier this month, Republicans like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio criticized the Obama administration because they believed the alleged terrorist should go through a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay instead of being tried in a federal court.

"If they bring him to the United States, they're going to Mirandize this guy, and it would be a mistake for the ages to read this guy his Miranda rights," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has said.

But the White House has defended its decision, saying that they have successfully tried a number of terrorists domestically and that no new captives have gone to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in years.

Abu Khatallah arrived on U.S. soil Saturday. After two weeks aboard the USS New York sailing from the Mediterranean Sea to the East Coast, Abu Khatallah was flown by helicopter to Washington and was driven to a federal courthouse.

There, he pleaded not guilty to one count of providing material support to terrorists. Prosecutors say he is the ringleader of the 2012 attacks on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya, which killed U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

More charges possible

The single count is part of a legal strategy by federal prosecutors, who plan to file additional charges later, according to U.S. officials. The aim is to delay releasing to the public and Abu Khatallah's lawyer the FBI affidavit detailing the evidence the government has against him.

An earlier criminal complaint in July 2013 said the FBI believed it had evidence to charge him with murder and firing a weapon at the scene of the Benghazi attacks. Those additional charges, if formally added, could bring the death penalty.

In his court appearance, Abu Khatallah, a Libyan national, requested consular assistance from the Libyan government. U.S. authorities were working with Libyan embassy officials in Washington to provide him the assistance.

After the hearing, armed guards accompanied Abu Khatallah from the federal courthouse in downtown Washington, a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol and near the White House.

He was then moved to the detention center in Alexandria, Virginia, which is across the Potomac River from the capital.

Details of the attacks

Authorities say Abu Khatallah is among the senior leaders of Ansar al Sharia, whose members were among several militias that participated in the attacks on U.S. government facilities in Benghazi on September 11-12, 2012.

The attacks spawned political controversy in the United States because some Republican lawmakers claim the Obama administration tried to mislead the public about them and should have done more to prevent them.

The GOP critics say they plan to make Benghazi an issue for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, under whose watch the attacks occurred, should she decide to run for president.

The criminal investigation led by the FBI has been extraordinarily challenging, authorities say, partly because the lack of Libyan government control in the city prevented investigators from visiting the crime scene for weeks.

But U.S. officials say they collected surveillance video, phone recordings and witness statements to bring charges against Abu Khatallah and others involved.

Abu Khatallah became the face of the militant attack and a top target for the U.S. after he cultivated a celebrity profile in the wake of the attacks, meeting with journalists and granting interviews. He denied to CNN's Arwa Damon that he participated in the attacks.

U.S. military commandos captured Abu Khatallah in a nighttime raid June 15-16. U.S. intelligence assets concocted a ruse to lure him to a villa where the Americans surprised him. The commandos, accompanied by several FBI agents, had come ashore by boat and quickly took him back out to sea with them.

Abu Khatallah was appointed a public defender, Michele Peterson. He was ordered to remain in custody until hearings set for Wednesday and Friday.

Timeline of the Benghazi attack

What's next for Benghazi terror suspect?

Benghazi 'mastermind' captured without a single shot

CNN's Sara Fisher and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.

 

How to keep ISIS terror out of the U.S.
6/30/2014 8:02:27 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Aaron Miller: Debating what went wrong in Iraq not useful; protecting U.S. interests now is
  • Iraq is complex, he says, with sectarian groups at odds, neighbors with own interests
  • He says U.S. must work with Iraq's neighbors, even al-Assad, to halt ISIS. Democracy can wait
  • Miller: U.S. must help right Iraqi military, but without combat forces. Point is to check terror

Editor's note: Aaron David Miller is a vice president and distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and was a Middle East negotiator in Democratic and Republican administrations. Follow him on Twitter. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- We can spend the next few years beating ourselves up and debating the proposition that George W. Bush saved Iraq and Barack Obama lost it. Or we can get real and try to sort out what we can do now to protect U.S. interests in a region that's melting down.

Iraq was never the U.S.'s to win. That point -- along with lowered expectations and focused goals -- must be the basis of any new approach to the region.

And here are three reasons.

Aaron David Miller
Aaron David Miller

1. Demography: There are two factors that nations -- even functional ones (and Iraq is not) -- can't alter: What they are -- their demography; and where they are -- their geography.

Iraq has been dealt an unhappy hand in both departments. There is, to be sure, a sense of Iraq national identity. But at the same time the end of Saddam Hussein's cruel rule -- for which the U.S. is responsible -- opened up a Pandora's box of sectarian tensions and expectations -- for which the U.S. is partly responsible -- that have never been adequately addressed.

In essence, the U.S. overturned a brutal minority Sunni rule and enabled Shia majority rule. The ins became the outs, and the outs the ins. And guess what? Despite several successful elections, $25 billion from the U.S. to train and equip the Iraqi military, and another trillion in support of the Nuri al-Maliki government, Iraq never equitably distributed political and economic power.

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Sunnis became disenfranchised, angry and vulnerable to jihadi persuasions; Shia sought to get even, get ahead and maintain a privileged position; and Kurds sought to protect their own interests and effectively create a separate governing authority. Iraq these days isn't so much a nation as it is a collection of battling sectarian groups, each seeking advantage at the expense of the Iraqi state.

2. Geography: Iraq's neighbors, particularly Iran and Saudi Arabia, do not share America's vision of an equitably balanced and independent polity. Each of them has its own vision. Iraq has become a pawn in a regional competition between Sunnis and Shia and Arabs and Persians. Iran wants a weak, stable Iraq not aligned with the West, under Shia influence. The Saudis want al-Maliki out and are happy that the militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria may provide that opportunity, even as they fear the jihadists. They want Sunnis empowered and Iran disempowered.

Turkey has made its peace with the Iraqi Kurds and hopes to get them to moderate the radical tendencies of those in Syria, but really has no answer to the ISIS contagion. Jordan is vulnerable to ISIS too, but can't exercise much influence in Iraq.

And that leaves Syria. The regime of Bashar al-Assad is aligned with both Iran and al-Maliki, and -- likely under Tehran's encouragement -- has begun to use military force against ISIS along the Syria-Iraq border. All this regional maneuvering reflects the reality that the neighbors' interests will continue to trump America's by virtue of their proximity, their influence in Iraq, and the reality that Iraq is more vital to them than it is to us.

3. Syria: Iraq can't be stabilized without dealing with Syria. And to date, the U.S. -- by default the only power that remotely has the capacity to alter the course of the civil war there -- has been unable and unwilling to do that. The ISIS threat may prompt a review of the Obama administration's Syria policy, but we should be under no illusions that Washington is ready to jump in with a comprehensive political, economic, and military strategy to end the conflict.

Indeed, the United States will be faced with some tough choices. It may find itself in the odd position of ramping up support for the more moderate Sunni rebels in Syria but also striking ISIS. That means we will be trying to weaken al-Assad on one hand, but indirectly strengthening him on the other by attacking a common enemy. Under no circumstances should the Obama administration commit to trying to put two broken nations back together again. Bottom line is that the real challenge is ISIS, which is likely to remain ensconced in parts of Syria and Iraq.

What should Obama do?

First let's be clear about what he shouldn't do. The United States needs to abandon any illusions that it can transform or find an easy way out of the situation. It is stuck in a region that it can't fix or leave. There isn't a single problem in this region that has a comprehensive or definitive solution. Instead, the U.S. should accept the reality that it will be dealing with outcomes, not happy endings, there. Iraq may never be a unified polity, but it need not necessarily be a failed one.

The question is, can we shape these outcomes to our advantage? Bush 43 tried to do too much; Obama too little. Is there a balance?

The U.S. needs at least three different but related approaches:

1. Coordinate with regional partners. Sure, in the case of Iran, it's like putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop. But the U.S. can't begin to deal with ISIS on its own. Iran is the key external power in Iraq. And Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have a stake in stopping ISIS's advances. The U.S. may have to accept the reality that the evil al-Assad is a hedge against ISIS, even though his policies helped to facilitate its rise.

2. Think diplomacy first, then military force. You need the first to make the second effective. That coordination must try to produce a more acceptable political arrangement in Baghdad, with or without al-Maliki. Without the Iraqi government regaining Sunni support, ISIS will continue to roll. And this means some new and more inclusive political arrangement in Baghdad to share power.

Forget democracy and making Iraq whole. To bring Sunnis around and check ISIS, we may have to not only concede influence to Iran but also to some pretty bad Sunnis, including former Saddam supporters and insurgents.

3. The U.S. will need to do what it can to buck up the Iraqi military. This could easily lead to sending additional advisers, but under no circumstances should it involve the use of combat forces. We may well have to use airstrikes and drones against ISIS. And this is tricky, because it risks feeding jihadi sentiment. That's why a new political arrangement is mandatory.

But even without it, the United States must face the reality that ISIS -- with money, passports, and a base of operations -- will emerge as a threat to our friends in the region, to Europe and ultimately to us.

We shouldn't run scared. ISIS's own ideology will produce a counterreaction among Iraqis who will oppose its harsh, unforgiving ideology. Indeed as the International Crisis Group points out, ISIS is its own worst enemy.

The region is littered with the remains of failed jihadi efforts, including al Qaeda central. In 2013, there were 17,800 global fatalities as a result of terrorist attacks. Only 16 of those were Americans.

Terror is not a strategic threat to the homeland right now. But it may well require a coordinated counterterror effort with our regional and international partners to prevent it from becoming one.

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ISIS declares Islamic State amid battle for Tikrit ...
6/30/2014 8:57:34 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Militants declare Islamic state extending from Syria to Iraq
  • The extremist group ISIS says it has changed its name to just "Islamic State"
  • Iraq's government is touting its offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown
  • But some residents tell CNN a different story: "There are no Iraqi troops here"

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Emboldened by a weakened Iraqi government that is struggling to stop their murderous advance, the extremists of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria declared over the weekend that they have set up a caliphate spanning large areas of the two countries.

In a newly released audio message and written statement, purportedly from the official spokesman of ISIS, the group called on Muslims to swear allegiance to the caliphate, which means Islamic state.

The group said in the message Sunday, which CNN couldn't independently confirm, that its flag now flies from Aleppo province in northwestern Syria to Diyala province in eastern Iraq. It announced that it was changing its name to just the "Islamic State."

The ISIS statement was just one of the many developments in the fast-moving situation in Iraq over the weekend.

Who controls Tikrit?

Iraq's government touted its military offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from extremists, with some officials taking to state-run television over the weekend to declare the army had defeated ISIS.

But residents in the city nestled along the Tigris River, about 140 kilometers (about 87 miles) northwest of Baghdad, gave a different account on Sunday.

"There are no Iraqi troops here," one woman told CNN by telephone from Tikrit. The only presence, at least in her neighborhood, is the "Islamic state," she said, referring to ISIS.

The woman, who asked not to be identified over concerns for her safety, said she could hear the sounds of a fierce battle, in the form of shelling, being carried out by both sides.

Heavy shelling

A video posted on YouTube appears to support her assertion. In it, a man gives a tour of the city to show, he says, that there were no Iraqi security forces on the streets on Saturday -- the day Iraqi forces said they launched the offensive.

In the video, the man can be heard repeatedly saying "June 28, 2014," presumably to offer evidence of the date. He says "Thank God, Tikrit is safe and still in the hand of tribesmen and not troops of 'al-Haliki,'" a derogatory reference to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that refers to his death.

Witnesses inside and outside of Tikrit said Iraqi forces were heavily shelling the city. Two days ago, the air force dropped leaflets from helicopters, demanding resident leave the city "for their safety."

A large number of people have fled Tikrit for smaller villages to the north, according to witnesses, who say Iraqi forces are battling ISIS on the southern edge of the city.

State-run Iraqi TV showed video footage of large plumes of black smoke billowing from the city. Another video, released by the Ministry of Defense, showed Iraqi troops and convoys loaded with heavy weapons driving through the desert. The video was titled "cleansing the road between Samarra and Tikrit."

CNN couldn't independently confirm the different claims.

Fierce clashes

Iraqi security forces were routed by ISIS fighters earlier this month during a lightning advance that saw the al Qaeda offshoot seize large swaths of northern and western Iraq.

State-run Iraqiya TV reported that the Iraqi army and volunteer militia groups had cleared ISIS fighters from the city, having advanced on the city from four directions.

Sheikh Khamis al-Joubouri, a key tribal leader in Tikrit, told CNN on Saturday that the Iraqi security forces entered the city supported by special forces and fighters from among the local tribes and had gained control.

He said ISIS fighters retreated in the direction of Kirkuk and the province of Nineveh.

But a combatant told a CNN freelance reporter that ISIS fighters remained in control of Tikrit, though there were fierce clashes in an area about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the city center, toward Samarra.

Two security officials in Samarra told CNN that Iraqi soldiers stopped the militants' advance about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Tikrit.

Russian jets arrive

State-run TV aired footage Sunday of the arrival overnight of five Russian Sukhoi fighter jets. They are the first of 25 warplanes expected to be delivered under a contract agreed to by Moscow and Baghdad, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement provided to CNN.

The announcement follows a comment by al-Maliki that militant advances might have been avoided if Iraq had proper air power, in the form of fighter jets that Iraq has been trying to get from the United States.

"I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract" with the United States, al-Maliki told the BBC in the interview last week, which was released Friday.

Iraq has now turned to Russia and Belarus to buy fighter jets, he said. "God willing, within one week, this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens," he said.

U.S. officials were quick to reject al-Maliki's complaints.

U.S. fighter jets have not been slow in coming, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told CNN. The first two promised F-16s "weren't expected to be delivered until the fall, which is still months away," Kirby said. "And we were in the process of working towards that delivery."

The advance of the al Qaeda splinter group "couldn't have been stemmed through the use of two particular fighter planes," he said.

Al-Maliki's statements about the need for air support came as American and Arab diplomats told CNN that the United States is unlikely to undertake any military strikes against the militant group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and its allied fighters before a new government is formed in Iraq.

Mass graves reported

Human Rights Watch has reported the discovery in Tikrit of two mass graves believed to contain the bodies of Iraqi soldiers, police and civilians killed by ISIS and its militant allies.

In addition to the alleged executions in Tikrit, reports continue to emerge of atrocities committed by both sides.

Human Rights Watch, citing displaced residents and local activists and journalists, said Saturday that ISIS fighters kidnapped at least 40 Shiite Turkmens, dynamited four Shiite places of worship and ransacked homes and farms in two villages just outside Mosul.

The few Sunni villagers who remained in Guba and Shireekhan told those who fled that at least some of the kidnapped Turkmens had been killed, the rights group said. However, they had not seen bodies and could not give more information.

ISIS destroyed seven Shiite places of worship in the predominantly Shia Turkmen city of Tal Afar, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Mosul, earlier in the week, Human Rights Watch added, citing local sources.

But the allegations of atrocities are not just limited to ISIS. Amnesty International has said it has gathered evidence pointing to a pattern of "extrajudicial executions" of Sunni detainees by government forces and Shiite militias in Tal Afar, Mosul and Baquba.

Maps: Understand the crisis in Iraq

What is ISIS?

Iraq witnesses recall horrors in Tal Afar, Mosul

Iraq's Shiites answer call to arms

CNN's Chelsea J. Carter reported from Baghdad, Mohammed Tawfeeq reported from Atlanta, and Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali, Arwa Damon, Nima Elbaghir, Raja Razek and Yousuf Basil contributed to this report.

 

Newlyweds decapitated, police say
6/29/2014 7:46:36 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Newlyweds in Pakistan are killed by the bride's family over opposition to the wedding
  • Police say the couple was lured back to the bride's village, tied up and beheaded
  • Family members turned themselves in after the murders and are now jailed

(CNN) -- A young newlywed couple in northeastern Pakistan died a horrible death at the hands of the bride's family in the latest honor killing in the nation, police in Pakistan said Saturday.

The couple, identified as Sajjad Ahmed, 26, and Muawia Bibi, 18, were married by a Pakistani court on June 18 against the wishes of the Bibi family, Punjab police official Mohammad Ahsanullah told CNN.

On Thursday, the bride's father and uncles lured the couple back to the village of Satrah in Punjab province, where Ahsanullah said the pair were tied up and then decapitated.

Despite the fact that there were no outside witnesses, family members turned themselves in to police and are now jailed in the Sialkot district of Punjab, Ahsanulluh said.

Such killings often originate from tribal traditions in Pakistan and usually happen in rural areas. Human rights activists said bystanders, including police, don't often interfere because the killings are considered to be family matters.

According to the United Nations, some 5,000 women are murdered by family members in honor killings every year.

However, women's advocacy groups believe the crime is underreported and that the actual death toll from this all too common crime is actually much higher.

In Pakistan, 869 women were victims of honor killings last year, according to the country's human rights commission.

Earlier in June, 18-year-old Saba Masqood was found left for dead inside of a sack in a canal in Pakistan, injured by gunfire. She accused her brother and father of shooting her because they didn't approve of her marriage to a neighbor. She survived, but many aren't so lucky.

Last month, the death of a pregnant Pakistani woman made headlines around the world.

Farzana Parveen, 25, was attacked with bricks by about 20 people, including members of her immediate family, police said. And her husband, Mohammad Iqbal, told CNN that he had killed his first wife six years ago so he could marry Parveen.

Pregnant Pakistani woman beaten to death with bricks

I killed my first wife, stoned Pakistani woman's husband says

CNN's Sophia Saifi and Deborah E. Bloom contributed to this report.

 

Mom web searched for hot car death
6/29/2014 11:18:31 PM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Police say Leanna Harris was questioned about the death of her son
  • She gave "similar statements" to ones her husband gave about looking on the Internet
  • Investigators used a warrant to take computers into evidence
  • Justin Ross Harris is charged with murder, child cruelty

(CNN) -- Leanna Harris, the mother of a Georgia toddler who died locked in a hot car, has told authorities that she researched such deaths and how they occur, according to a police affidavit.

Her husband, Justin Ross Harris, the child's father, who is in jail without bond, has also told police that he used the Internet to research child deaths in vehicles and what temperature it needs to be for death to occur, police said.

"Justin stated that he was fearful that this could happen," the police affidavit said.

In the document released Sunday, police say that during questioning Leanna Harris "made similar statements regarding researching in car deaths and how it occurs."

The time frame for when this alleged research took place remains unclear.

Their son, Cooper Harris, who was 22 months old when he died June 18, was buried after a funeral Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Leanna Harris emphatically told a crowd at her son's funeral she loves and stands by her husband, even though he is charged with murder in the child's death.

"Am I angry with Ross?" Leanna Harris said Saturday. "Absolutely not. It has never crossed my mind. Ross is and was and will be, if we have more children, a wonderful father. Ross is a wonderful daddy and leader for our household. Cooper meant the world to him."

Police said Justin Ross Harris told them he forgot to drop his 22-month-old son at the day care center before going to work. The boy died after spending seven hours in a child safety seat in the back of an SUV.

Harris was arrested hours after his son's death and has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and second-degree child cruelty.

The affidavit was filed in the application for a search warrant used to seize computers from the Harris home.

5 questions about toddler's hot-car death

A timeline of events

On the day Cooper died, his father stopped for breakfast at a fast-food restaurant and afterward strapped his son into a rear-facing child restraint seat on his SUV's back seat, police said.

He drove to his workplace, a Home Depot corporate office, about a half-mile away. He works as a Web designer there.

Usually, he would take his son to an on-site day care. But that day, police said, Harris left him in the car seat.

During his lunch break, he returned to his car, opening the driver's side door to put something inside, police said.

After work, around 4:16 p.m., the 33-year-old father got in his car and drove away. A few miles away, he stopped the car at a shopping center and called for help.

When it became clear Cooper was dead, Harris was so inconsolable police had to restrain him.

"What have I done?" he wailed as he tried to resuscitate the boy.

The Cobb County medical examiner's office found the child's cause of death "consistent with hyperthermia and the investigative information suggests the manner of death is homicide," according to a Cobb County Department of Public Safety statement issued last week. Temperatures hit 92 degrees Fahrenheit on the day of Cooper's death.

The medical examiner's office is waiting for toxicology test results before making an official ruling as to the cause and manner of the toddler's death.

Mom of toddler who died in car 'absolutely not' angry with husband

Toddler's dad researched hot-car deaths of children online, officers said in warrant

CNN's Vivian Kuo, Marlena Baldacci and Nick Valencia contributed to this report.

 

Shiites answer call to arms
6/30/2014 12:32:42 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Fallah al Araiby is glad his son, 25-year-old Ali, will be fighting Sunni insurgents
  • With three days of training, Ali was given a helmet, a rifle and sent to the front line
  • An Iraqi colonel says some 23,000 volunteers have signed up for the security forces
  • The big question: Are they enough to take on seasoned ISIS fighters?

Taji, Iraq (CNN) -- Under a sweltering sun, Fallah al Araiby hunched over the hood of a car, scrubbing away the dirt.

Once, his son used to work alongside him on a busy street corner in central Baghdad. Now, he does it alone.

His son is one of the thousands who have answered the call from Iraq's top Shiite cleric to take up arms to protect Iraq from extremist Sunni fighters whose aim is to oust Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government and establish an Islamic state that stretches from Iraq to northern Syria.

With three days of training, his son -- 25-year-old Ali -- was given a helmet, a rifle, a magazine of ammunition and sent to the front line, al Araiby said.

Some 23,000 volunteers, according to Col. Shihab Hamoud Nasir, have signed up for the security forces since ISIS seized Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul. In a lightning advance, ISIS seize large swaths of northern and western Iraq earlier this month.

Al Araiby's son and many like him were taken by the loads in buses and trucks to the sprawling Taji training base, 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Baghdad. There, under a makeshift canopy, volunteers wait for their turn to begin training.

When they are called, they are put into formation where they march -- sometimes out of step -- and practice shooting.

They get about a week to 10 days of training, Nasir said.

Much has been made about whether it's enough training to take on the seasoned ISIS fighters, who have had significant success in battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

ISIS fighters and allied Sunni militants have launched a number of attacks against military bases and checkpoints, killing a large number of the new recruits. Iraq's military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, details the deaths of ISIS fighters during military briefings televised near daily, but he says almost nothing about Iraqi security force casualties.

But sporadic reports about the fighting from police and local government officials paint a sometimes bleak picture. Take the report about fighting at a military base south of Baghdad:

ISIS fighters launched an attack Sunday against the base at Jurf al-Sakhar, on the outskirts of Hilla, where an infantry brigade is based.

At least seven soldiers, all new recruits, were killed and 15 were wounded, according to police officials.

It was the second such attack on the base in as many days.

Still, volunteers come by the hundreds to Taji to train.

"I can assure you that volunteers came from all of Iraq's provinces, and a few were underage but we convinced them to change their decision and return to their families," Nasir said.

While Nasir said recruits are not asked about their religious affiliation, the majority are Shiite who answered the call put forward by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country's top Shiite cleric.

Among them is 23-year-old Mohammed Jassim, who left his job as a taxi driver in Baghdad's Sadr City to take up arms.

"This is my first day here, and I am ready to be deployed to the field, even to the front line, if that's needed," he said as he sat on a wooden bench waiting to be called.

As Nasir detailed the training for CNN, he was interrupted by a man in his 70s who reminded him that he has come to the training center every day for much of the last two weeks.

"When will it be my turn," he asks Nasir. "When God wills," the colonel tells him. "When God wills."

On the street corner in Baghdad, al Araiby praises his son's decision to volunteer. He doesn't know where he's been deployed.

"No, I am not afraid for him. He is a brave young man, and it is his duty to obey the religious authority," he said.

"... I encouraged my son to join as a volunteer because this is our responsibility and duty."

The 50-year-old al Araiby hopes to join his son at the front line. He says he's just waiting for the military to call.

 

Actor Meshach Taylor dies
6/29/2014 11:24:41 PM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Taylor fought terminal illness and died surrounded by his family
  • He also appeared in the series "Hannah Montana" and "In the Heat of the Night"

(CNN) -- Another familiar Hollywood face bid farewell late Saturday -- actor Meshach Taylor. He died at age 67 at his Los Angeles area home, his agent Dede Binder said.

Many may remember him from "Designing Women," where he played assistant Anthony Bouvier.

Taylor had fought a terminal illness and faded markedly in recent days. His wife, children, grandchildren and mother surrounded him as he passed away, Binder said.

"It is with love and gratitude that we sorrowfully announce that our darling, amazingly brilliant and dynamic, Meshach, the incredible father, husband, son and friend has begun his grand transition," the family said in a statement.

Taylor made his screen debut in the 1978 movie "Damien: Omen II." He has appeared regularly in television dramas since, including the series "In the Heat of the Night," "Hannah Montana," and "All of Us," according to his profile on the Internet Movie Database.

Most recently, he appeared in two episodes of Criminal Minds. The last one ran in January this year.

During the run of "Designing Women," Taylor's co-star Dixie Carter described him as "a good man who is confident and strong. He's absolutely grounded," according to a profile in People.

"The eldest of three children of two former college professors, Taylor, a precocious child, first learned acting technique as a survival skill. 'The kids called me the Professor, and I got beat up a lot,' he says. 'So I dummied up until I got into the 11th grade,'" the profile read.

"Even when he didn't have any money, he always had style. He was on the cutting edge of men's colognes, and he was always buying yachting magazines and GQ," actor Joe Mantegna told the magazine.

People we've lost in 2014

 

Militants killed in Pakistan offensive
6/28/2014 6:45:39 AM

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani forces have killed at least 19 militants as part of their offensive in the country's tribal region, the military said in a statement Saturday.

The operation, in North Waziristan, includes airstrikes and artillery shelling.

A Pakistani Taliban leader known as Commander Umer was killed Friday evening on the outskirts of Miranshah, according to the military.

A prominent al-Qaeda commander, who was not named, has been arrested while trying to flee northwestern Pakistan and security forces determined during his interrogation that he is an expert in explosives.

The group, formally known as Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, is a coalition of militant groups. It was founded in 2007, seeking to establish its version of sharia law across Pakistan.

Fleeing Pakistanis crowd border towns, asking 'why weren't we warned?'

Opinion: Exodus from Pakistan's troubled north presents risks, opportunities

Pakistan's refugee crisis fuels danger of spreading polio virus

 

ISIS declares Islamic State amid battle for Tikrit ...
6/30/2014 4:26:59 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Militants declare Islamic state extending from Syria to Iraq
  • The extremist group ISIS says it has changed its name to just "Islamic State"
  • Iraq's government is touting its offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown
  • But some residents tell CNN a different story: "There are no Iraqi troops here"

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Emboldened by a weakened Iraqi government that is struggling to stop their murderous advance, the extremists of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria declared over the weekend that they have set up a caliphate spanning large areas of the two countries.

In a newly released audio message and written statement, purportedly from the official spokesman of ISIS, the group called on Muslims to swear allegiance to the caliphate, which means Islamic state.

The group said in the message Sunday, which CNN couldn't independently confirm, that its flag now flies from Aleppo province in northwestern Syria to Diyala province in eastern Iraq. It announced that it was changing its name to just the "Islamic State."

The ISIS statement was just one of the many developments in the fast-moving situation in Iraq over the weekend.

Who controls Tikrit?

Iraq's government touted its military offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from extremists, with some officials taking to state-run television over the weekend to declare the army had defeated ISIS.

But residents in the city nestled along the Tigris River, about 140 kilometers (about 87 miles) northwest of Baghdad, gave a different account on Sunday.

"There are no Iraqi troops here," one woman told CNN by telephone from Tikrit. The only presence, at least in her neighborhood, is the "Islamic state," she said, referring to ISIS.

The woman, who asked not to be identified over concerns for her safety, said she could hear the sounds of a fierce battle, in the form of shelling, being carried out by both sides.

Heavy shelling

A video posted on YouTube appears to support her assertion. In it, a man gives a tour of the city to show, he says, that there were no Iraqi security forces on the streets on Saturday -- the day Iraqi forces said they launched the offensive.

In the video, the man can be heard repeatedly saying "June 28, 2014," presumably to offer evidence of the date. He says "Thank God, Tikrit is safe and still in the hand of tribesmen and not troops of 'al-Haliki,'" a derogatory reference to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that refers to his death.

Witnesses inside and outside of Tikrit said Iraqi forces were heavily shelling the city. Two days ago, the air force dropped leaflets from helicopters, demanding resident leave the city "for their safety."

A large number of people have fled Tikrit for smaller villages to the north, according to witnesses, who say Iraqi forces are battling ISIS on the southern edge of the city.

State-run Iraqi TV showed video footage of large plumes of black smoke billowing from the city. Another video, released by the Ministry of Defense, showed Iraqi troops and convoys loaded with heavy weapons driving through the desert. The video was titled "cleansing the road between Samarra and Tikrit."

CNN couldn't independently confirm the different claims.

Fierce clashes

Iraqi security forces were routed by ISIS fighters earlier this month during a lightning advance that saw the al Qaeda offshoot seize large swaths of northern and western Iraq.

State-run Iraqiya TV reported that the Iraqi army and volunteer militia groups had cleared ISIS fighters from the city, having advanced on the city from four directions.

Sheikh Khamis al-Joubouri, a key tribal leader in Tikrit, told CNN on Saturday that the Iraqi security forces entered the city supported by special forces and fighters from among the local tribes and had gained control.

He said ISIS fighters retreated in the direction of Kirkuk and the province of Nineveh.

But a combatant told a CNN freelance reporter that ISIS fighters remained in control of Tikrit, though there were fierce clashes in an area about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the city center, toward Samarra.

Two security officials in Samarra told CNN that Iraqi soldiers stopped the militants' advance about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Tikrit.

Russian jets arrive

State-run TV aired footage Sunday of the arrival overnight of five Russian Sukhoi fighter jets. They are the first of 25 warplanes expected to be delivered under a contract agreed to by Moscow and Baghdad, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement provided to CNN.

The announcement follows a comment by al-Maliki that militant advances might have been avoided if Iraq had proper air power, in the form of fighter jets that Iraq has been trying to get from the United States.

"I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract" with the United States, al-Maliki told the BBC in the interview last week, which was released Friday.

Iraq has now turned to Russia and Belarus to buy fighter jets, he said. "God willing, within one week, this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens," he said.

U.S. officials were quick to reject al-Maliki's complaints.

U.S. fighter jets have not been slow in coming, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told CNN. The first two promised F-16s "weren't expected to be delivered until the fall, which is still months away," Kirby said. "And we were in the process of working towards that delivery."

The advance of the al Qaeda splinter group "couldn't have been stemmed through the use of two particular fighter planes," he said.

Al-Maliki's statements about the need for air support came as American and Arab diplomats told CNN that the United States is unlikely to undertake any military strikes against the militant group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and its allied fighters before a new government is formed in Iraq.

Mass graves reported

Human Rights Watch has reported the discovery in Tikrit of two mass graves believed to contain the bodies of Iraqi soldiers, police and civilians killed by ISIS and its militant allies.

In addition to the alleged executions in Tikrit, reports continue to emerge of atrocities committed by both sides.

Human Rights Watch, citing displaced residents and local activists and journalists, said Saturday that ISIS fighters kidnapped at least 40 Shiite Turkmens, dynamited four Shiite places of worship and ransacked homes and farms in two villages just outside Mosul.

The few Sunni villagers who remained in Guba and Shireekhan told those who fled that at least some of the kidnapped Turkmens had been killed, the rights group said. However, they had not seen bodies and could not give more information.

ISIS destroyed seven Shiite places of worship in the predominantly Shia Turkmen city of Tal Afar, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Mosul, earlier in the week, Human Rights Watch added, citing local sources.

But the allegations of atrocities are not just limited to ISIS. Amnesty International has said it has gathered evidence pointing to a pattern of "extrajudicial executions" of Sunni detainees by government forces and Shiite militias in Tal Afar, Mosul and Baquba.

Maps: Understand the crisis in Iraq

What is ISIS?

Iraq witnesses recall horrors in Tal Afar, Mosul

Iraq's Shiites answer call to arms

CNN's Chelsea J. Carter reported from Baghdad, Mohammed Tawfeeq reported from Atlanta, and Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali, Arwa Damon, Nima Elbaghir, Raja Razek and Yousuf Basil contributed to this report.

 

Shiites answer call to arms
6/30/2014 4:21:29 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Fallah al Araiby is glad his son, 25-year-old Ali, will be fighting Sunni insurgents
  • With three days of training, Ali was given a helmet, a rifle and sent to the front line
  • An Iraqi colonel says some 23,000 volunteers have signed up for the security forces
  • The big question: Are they enough to take on seasoned ISIS fighters?

Taji, Iraq (CNN) -- Under a sweltering sun, Fallah al Araiby hunched over the hood of a car, scrubbing away the dirt.

Once, his son used to work alongside him on a busy street corner in central Baghdad. Now, he does it alone.

His son is one of the thousands who have answered the call from Iraq's top Shiite cleric to take up arms to protect Iraq from extremist Sunni fighters whose aim is to oust Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government and establish an Islamic state that stretches from Iraq to northern Syria.

With three days of training, his son -- 25-year-old Ali -- was given a helmet, a rifle, a magazine of ammunition and sent to the front line, al Araiby said.

Maps: Understand the crisis in Iraq

Some 23,000 volunteers, according to Col. Shihab Hamoud Nasir, have signed up for the security forces since ISIS seized Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul. In a lightning advance, ISIS seize large swaths of northern and western Iraq earlier this month.

Al Araiby's son and many like him were taken by the loads in buses and trucks to the sprawling Taji training base, 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Baghdad. There, under a makeshift canopy, volunteers wait for their turn to begin training.

When they are called, they are put into formation where they march -- sometimes out of step -- and practice shooting.

They get about a week to 10 days of training, Nasir said.

Much has been made about whether it's enough training to take on the seasoned ISIS fighters, who have had significant success in battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

ISIS fighters and allied Sunni militants have launched a number of attacks against military bases and checkpoints, killing a large number of the new recruits. Iraq's military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, details the deaths of ISIS fighters during military briefings televised near daily, but he says almost nothing about Iraqi security force casualties.

But sporadic reports about the fighting from police and local government officials paint a sometimes bleak picture. Take the report about fighting at a military base south of Baghdad:

ISIS fighters launched an attack Sunday against the base at Jurf al-Sakhar, on the outskirts of Hilla, where an infantry brigade is based.

At least seven soldiers, all new recruits, were killed and 15 were wounded, according to police officials.

It was the second such attack on the base in as many days.

Still, volunteers come by the hundreds to Taji to train.

"I can assure you that volunteers came from all of Iraq's provinces, and a few were underage but we convinced them to change their decision and return to their families," Nasir said.

While Nasir said recruits are not asked about their religious affiliation, the majority are Shiite who answered the call put forward by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country's top Shiite cleric.

Among them is 23-year-old Mohammed Jassim, who left his job as a taxi driver in Baghdad's Sadr City to take up arms.

"This is my first day here, and I am ready to be deployed to the field, even to the front line, if that's needed," he said as he sat on a wooden bench waiting to be called.

As Nasir detailed the training for CNN, he was interrupted by a man in his 70s who reminded him that he has come to the training center every day for much of the last two weeks.

"When will it be my turn," he asks Nasir. "When God wills," the colonel tells him. "When God wills."

On the street corner in Baghdad, al Araiby praises his son's decision to volunteer. He doesn't know where he's been deployed.

"No, I am not afraid for him. He is a brave young man, and it is his duty to obey the religious authority," he said.

"... I encouraged my son to join as a volunteer because this is our responsibility and duty."

The 50-year-old al Araiby hopes to join his son at the front line. He says he's just waiting for the military to call.

Who are the militants fighting to take over Iraq?

Iraq witnesses recall horrors in Tal Afar, Mosul

 

5 things to watch for Sunday
6/29/2014 10:30:36 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Brazil has reason to party after its team squeaked past Chile
  • Offensive powerhouse Netherlands face Mexico's nearly airtight defense Sunday
  • Guess who has always won when Algeria has played Germany in the past?
  • Everybody loves Colombia and James Rodriguez

(CNN) -- Who would have thought it? Team Brazil just scraping by in a cliffhanger penalty kick shootout.

But from here on out, where every game means somebody's going home, there's a 12th man on the field, a true equalizer -- roaring determination.

And it nearly snatched victory for Chile.

But Brazil's dream of winning a World Cup on its own soil has survived.

It meets Colombia in the quarterfinals after it sent Uruguay home to join striker Luis Suarez, whom FIFA suspended for biting an Italian player last week.

That may have cost Uruguay the game, but at the same time, Colombia has hit the World Cup like a whirlwind, and fans are swooning for their stand-out midfielder James Rodriguez. He has shot half of Colombia's total 10 goals in the tournament so far.

Newby fans of Team USA soccer who left the television on over the weekend instead of waiting for America's faceoff with Belgium on Tuesday, must certainly have caught footy fever from Saturday's exhilarating matches.

More to come, in the Round of 16 knockout matches -- see viewing times and channels below. Also included: a nice treat at bottom. Here's what to watch for:

1. Hangovers

They may be epidemic in Brazil after the celebration parties. Three factors are at work here:

A. It was a Saturday night.

B. Brazil won.

C. Duh, it's Brazil during World Cup.

But Brazil fans have a lot of time to recover from the party, since Brazil doesn't play again until Friday. If they win that quarterfinal match against Colombia, get ready of a repeat of last night.

In the meantime, fans can take in two games on Sunday while vegging in front of the TV.

2. Offense vs. Defense

Netherlands vs. Mexico, noon ET Sunday, ESPN and Univision

The Dutch players could easily be mistaken for a road repair crew if they wear their hunter-orange jerseys on Sunday. But the color should be taken seriously as a symbol of how on fire they are.

They have shot the most goals in group play at this year's World Cup -- 10, topping Germany and Brazil, which had seven each.

They dominated their group, roundly stomping reigning world champ Spain 5-1 in their first game.

But offense isn't everything, as Mexico's team will attest. They practically put a brick wall in front of their goal during group play, allowing just one ball to get in. They held Brazil to a 0-0 tie.

All they need to do now is score more. Javier Hernandez might just have it in him. He's been quite a goal-getter in the past.

And Dutch fans certainly make an impression parading down Brazil's streets in those bright jerseys.

3. Feels like the first time

Costa Rica vs. Greece, 4 p.m. ET Sunday, ESPN and Univision

They've never met before, FIFA says. Not once. And at the World Cup, this is only Costa Rica's third appearance, and only Greece's second.

Costa Rica has shot twice as many goals so far as Greece, while allowing only one and putting away major contenders Italy and Uruguay.

Sound like Greece is the underdog? FIFA ranks the team 12th in the world and Costa Rica 28th.

4. Line-dance craze

Colombia has not only won each of its games so far, it has also won the hearts of millions of fans.

The spirit of the team's play, the scoring surge by Rodriguez. But crowds also love Colombia's signature celebration group dance. If Colombia continues its winning streak, it may catch on.

Watch for it in a disco near you.

Click the pic to play!

5. Monday reality checks

What betting odds would you give on these Round of 16 matches coming up Monday?

* First, France vs. Nigeria. France has won a previous World Cup title, has shot eight goals in group play and is currently ranked 17 in the world. Nigeria has shot only three goals in the tournament and is ranked 44th.

* Second, Germany vs. Algeria. Germany has three previous World Cup titles and is ranked 2nd globally behind Spain, which lost in group play -- making Germany the top team left in this year's cup. Algeria has never won a World Cup title, has only even participated three times and is ranked 22nd globally.

Com'on. Pony up that those odds. No? Already know you're in for a surprise, eh?

You're right. France has yet to beat Nigeria. They've met once before, and Nigeria won. And -- saving the best for last -- Germany has lost to Algeria both times they went toe-to-toe. Algeria has four goals from those two meets to Germany's one.

But Germans believe in their team and are gearing up for them to go all the way. It has spawned a flurry of homemade online music videos, each one worse than the next -- all in good fun.

The real fave seems to be by 15-year-old Fritz, a singer without finesse but full of gawky charm, braces and all.

----------------------------------

 

Who's playing, what's score?
6/29/2014 10:32:32 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • World Cup kicked off June 12 with host Brazil beating Croatia
  • 32 teams are divided into eight groups of four teams
  • Top two teams in each group go to knockout stages
  • Final takes place on Sunday July 13 in Rio de Janeiro

Editor's note: How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN's Facebook Pulse

(CNN) -- Sunday's last-16 fixtures (kickoff time GMT:

Netherlands v Mexico in Fortaleza (1600)

Costa Rica v Greece in Recife (2000)

Schedule of matches

Thursday June 12

Group A: Brazil 3-1 Croatia in Sao Paulo

Friday June 13

Tweets by @CNNFC

Group A: Mexico 1-0 Cameroon in Natal

Group B: Spain 1-5 Netherlands in Salvador

Group B: Chile 3-1 Australia in Cuiaba

Saturday June 14

Group C: Colombia 3-0 Greece in Belo Horizonte

Group D: Uruguay 1-3 Costa Rica in Fortaleza

Group D: England 1-2 Italy in Manaus

Group C: Ivory Coast 2-1 Japan in Recife

Sunday June 15

Group E: Switzerland 2-1 Ecuador in Brasilia

Group E: France 3-0 Honduras in Porto Alegre

Group F: Argentina 2-1 Bosnia Herzegovina in Rio de Janeiro

Monday June 16

Group G: Germany 4-0 Portugal in Salvador

Group F: Iran 0-0 Nigeria in Curitiba

Group G: Ghana 1-2 USA in Natal

Tuesday June 17

Group H: Belgium 2-1 Algeria in Belo Horizonte

Group A: Brazil 0-0 Mexico in Fortaleza

Group H: Russia 1-1 South Korea in Cuiaba

Wednesday June 18

Group B: Australia 2-3 Netherlands in Porto Alegre

Group B: Spain 0-2 Chile in Rio

Group A: Cameroon 0-4 Croatia in Manaus

Thursday June 19

Group C: Colombia 2-1 Ivory Coast in Brasilia

Group D: Uruguay 2-1 England in Sao Paulo

Group C: Japan 0-0 Greece in Natal

Friday June 20

Group D: Italy 0-1 Costa Rica in Recife

Group E: Switzerland 2-5 France in Salvador

Group E: Honduras 1-2 Ecuador in Curitiba

Saturday June 21

Group F: Argentina 1-0 Iran in Belo Horizonte

Group G: Germany 2-2 Ghana in Fortaleza

Group F: Nigeria 1-0 Bosnia Herzegovina in Cuiaba

Sunday June 22

Group H: Belgium 1-0 Russia in Rio de Janeiro

Group H: South Korea 2-4 Algeria in Porto Alegre

Group G: USA 2-2 Portugal in Manaus

Monday June 23

Group B: Netherlands 2-0 Chile in Sao Paulo

Group B: Australia 0-3 Spain in Curitiba

View my Flipboard Magazine.

Group A: Brazil 4-1 Cameroon in Brasilia

Group A: Croatia 1-3 Mexico in Recife

Tuesday June 24

Group D: Italy 0-1 Uruguay in Natal

Group D: Costa Rica 0-0 England in Belo Horizonte

Group C: Japan 1-4 Colombia in Cuiaba

Group C: Greece 2-1 Ivory Coast in Fortaleza

Wednesday June 25

Group F: Nigeria 2-3 Argentina in Porto Alegre

Group F: Bosnia Herzegovina 3-1 Iran in Salvador

Group E: Honduras 0-3 Switzerland in Manaus

Group E: Ecuador 0-0 France in Rio de Janeiro

Thursday June 26

Group G: Portugal 2-1 Ghana in Brasilia

Group G: USA 0-1 Germany in Recife

Group H: South Korea 0-1 Belgium in Sao Paulo

Group H: Algeria 1-1 Russia in Curitiba

Last-16 knockout matches:

Saturday June 28

Match 49: Brazil 1-1 Chile in Belo Horizonte (Brazil wins 3-2 on penalties)

Match 50: Colombia 2-0 Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro

Sunday June 29

Match 51: Netherlands v Mexico in Fortaleza (1600)

Match 52: Costa Rica v Greece in Recife (2000)

Monday June 30:

Match 53: France v Nigeria in Brasilia (1600)

Match 54: Germany v Algeria in Porto Alegre (2000)

Tuesday July 1

Match 55: Argentina v Switzerland in Sao Paulo (1600)

Match 56: Belgium v USA in Salvador (2000)

Quarterfinals:

Friday July 4

Match 57: Winner Match 54 v Winner Match 53 in Rio de Janeiro (1600)

Match 58: Brazil v Colombia in Fortaleza (2000)

Saturday July 5

Match 59: Winner Match 55 v Winner Match 56 in Brasilia (1600)

Match 60: Winner Match 51 v Winner Match 52 in Salvador (2000)

Semifinals

Tuesday July 8

Match 61: Winner Match 57 v Winner Match 58 in Belo Horizonte (2000)

Wednesday July 9

Match 62: Winner Match 59 v Winner Match 60 in Sao Paulo (2000)

Third and fourth place playoff

Saturday July 12

Loser Match 61 v Loser Match 62 in Brasilia (2000)

Final

Sunday July 13

Winner Match 61 v Winner Match 62 in Rio de Janeiro (1900)

 

Brazil defeats Chile on penalties
6/29/2014 10:00:04 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Brazil defeats Chile 3-2 on penalties
  • Game had finished at 1-1 after 120 minutes
  • David Luiz goal had given Brazil advantage
  • Alexis Sanchez equalized for Chile

How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN Facebook Pulse

(CNN) -- And so the carnival carries on.

Brazil, the team which manages to thrill and frustrate almost simultaneously, clinched its place in the quarterfinal of the World Cup following a tension-fueled encounter with Chile.

A 3-2 victory on penalties following a 1-1 draw in Belo Horizonte means Luiz Felipe Scolari's side's quest to win the World Cup on home soil remains alive.

It will now turn its attention to a last eight contest with Colombia -- a team which has thrilled so far in this tournament.

Tweets by @CNNFC

While Brazil will take the plaudits, Chile should be commended for a performance which at times defied the ability of the human body to run and hustle as its players did.

Having already scored an own-goal to gift Brazil a 19th minute lead, Gonzalo Jara was to be the fall guy at the death.

With Brazil leading the shootout 3-2, Jara needed to score to keep his country in the tournament.

As he stood, eyes firmly on the goal, two nations held their breath -- but only one broke out into ecstasy as the ball smashed against the post and rolled away to safety.

As those in red flopped to the ground, their bodies bruised and beaten, tears running down their faces, their opponents danced their way around the field, perhaps more out of relief than happiness.

Brazil, still haunted by its failure 64 years ago when it was beaten by Uruguay in the 1950 final, cannot afford anything but triumph.

It will now move on to face Colombia in Fortaleza on Friday -- but there will still be some concerns over Brazil's performance.

This was not the showing of a side which appeared ready to become World champion.

Poor in possession, unnerving in defense, most of those at the Estadio Mineirao were put through a painstaking afternoon as its side seldom showed what has become expected of a Brazilian side.

And yet, before kickoff, every single historic fact pointed towards a Brazil victory.

Brazil, which had not lost a competitive home game since 1975, has dominated encounters between the two sides in recent years.

On the 26 occasions Chile had ventured onto Brazilian turf to face the host nation, it had lost 20 and drawn six -- not a record to inspire confidence ahead of a last-16 clash.

Add to that Brazil's victory over Chile in South Africa four years ago and it's easy to understand why Scolari's men headed into the contest as the favorite.

But this Chile side, coached by the irrepressible Jorge Sampaoli, appears to have little interest in history.

Its victory over world champion Spain during the group stage gave a glimpse of the talent within the squad and led by the prolific Alexis Sanchez, it soon gave notice that it was not about to allow Brazil to simply swat it aside.

Even when it fell behind, Jara, inadvertently directing Thiago Silva's header into his own net off eventual goalscorer David Luiz, Chile refused to buckle.

Playing with an energy and intensity which belied the energy sapping conditions, the visiting side soon crafted an equalizer, which perhaps owed more to Brazil's poor defending than any Chilean magic.

A careless pass allowed Chile to pick up possession and Sanchez weaved his way into the penalty area before carefully placing the ball beyond the outstretched arm of Julio Cesar.

The Barcelona forward, who has scored 10 goals in his past 14 international games, has been his side's talisman throughout the tournament -- and his pace, power and trickery continued to cause Brazil problems.

But where Sanchez managed to shine, Neymar, the man who had lit up this World Cup, failed to find his way into the contest.

The 22-year-old, who had scored four goals in his opening three games, received a kick in the first half which appeared to leave him struggling.

But Brazil's golden boy, even when not fully fit, still managed to cause problems and his header from an Oscar cross flew narrowly wide as the host nation threatened.

Minutes later, Neymar was at it again -- this time leaving the Chilean defense for dead only for the much maligned Fred to lash the ball harmlessly over the crossbar.

After a fierce and frantic first half, both teams emerged in more cautious manner following the interval.

Chile, so disciplined in defense and careful in possession, appeared to be the calmer of the two as nerves began to creep into Brazil's game.

And yet, for all of Brazil's inability to keep the ball, it still looked the more threatening.

As those draped in yellow packed inside the Estadio Mineirao began to raise their voices, its players began to respond.

But instead of the goal it so badly craved, Brazil could only find frustration.

Hulk, the man with a comic book hero's name but with the first touch of a dastardly villain, thought he had found a way through.

The forward took Marcelo's long ball on his chest but the ball appeared to roll down his arm before he fired the ball past Claudio Bravo.

As the Brazilians around the world rejoiced, the whistle of English referee Howard Webb could scarcely be heard.

First, there was disbelief. Then there was frustration. Then anger.

Webb's call looked to have taken the wind out of Brazil's sails -- and it could have been heading out of the tournament but for a wonderful save by Cesar.

Mauricio Isla made his way down the right and his cross picked out the tireless Charles Aranguiz, whose effort was brilliantly parried by the Brazilian goalkeeper.

With both sets of players appearing to settle for extra-time, chances were at a premium, although Bravo denied both Neymar and Hulk as the clock ticked down.

Extra time became a war of attrition with both sides guilty of giving the ball away and both sets of players desperate not to lose rather than being desperate to win.

And yet, with a minute of extra time remaining, Chile came within millimeters of dumping Brazil out of the World Cup.

Maurico Pinilla, a substitute, received the ball just outside the penalty area before swiveling sharply and smashing an audacious effort against the crossbar.

"That near goal right at the end has been really hard for us," Chile coach Sampaoli told reporters.

"If we had scored, we would have made history for ever. It would have been the 'Mineirazo'. We so nearly won."

With the crossbar still shaking, both sets of players were left to confront the dreaded scenario of penalty kicks.

Luiz was the first man to step up -- showing no sign of being overawed by the occasion and coolly firing the ball past Bravo.

View my Flipboard Magazine.

Then it was left to Cesar to steal the show as he denied Pinilla and Sanchez with two fine saves.

Brazil appeared to be coasting but there was still a twist in the tale as Willian and then Hulk both failed and Aranguiz and Marcelo Diaz brought Chile level.

Neymar then showed nerves of steel to put Brazil back in front before Jara struck his effort against the inside of the post.

Up stepped Jara -- the weight of a nation upon his shoulders and a sea of yellow shirts which would drown him given the chance.

The defender stepped up and struck his kick to the goalkeeper's left only for the ball to hit the inside of the post and roll away to safety.

First, there was silence. Then came the roar -- the outpouring of relief. Then the singing, the dancing, the realization that Brazil's dream remains alive.

While Chile's players fell to the ground inconsolable with grief, Brazil's ran into each others arms and celebrated.

Lucky? Fortuitous? Nobody wearing yellow will care. The dream lives on.

 

Iraq looks to Russia for warplanes, says U.S. too slow
6/29/2014 10:23:18 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • NEW: U.S. rejects complaints by Iraqi PM that slow delivery of F-16s helped militants
  • The first batch of Russian fighter jets arrives in Iraq
  • Kurdish security forces allow families into region, with significant restrictions
  • Official says Iraqi jets hit ISIS locations in Mosul; reports conflict about who controls Tikrit

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Five Russian Sukhoi fighter jets arrived Saturday in Iraq, the first of 25 warplanes expected to be delivered under a contract agreed to by Moscow and Baghdad, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement provided to CNN.

The announcement follows a comment by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that militant advances might have been avoided if Iraq had had proper airpower, in the form of fighter jets that Iraq has been trying to get from the United States for some time.

"I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract" with the United States, al-Maliki told the BBC in the interview last week, which was released Friday.

Iraq has now turned to Russia and Belarus to buy fighter jets, he said. "God willing, within one week, this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens," he said.

Al-Maliki's statements about the need for air support came as American and Arab diplomats told CNN that the United States is unlikely to undertake any military strikes against the militant group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and its allied fighters before a new government is formed in Iraq.

U.S. officials were quick to reject al-Maliki's complaints. U.S. fighter jets have not been slow in coming, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told CNN's "The Lead."

The first two promised F-16s "weren't expected to be delivered until the fall, which is still months away," Kirby said. "And we were in the process of working towards that delivery. In fact, those contractors that were at Balad Airfield that had to be evacuated because of ISIL advances were in fact setting up the logistical base for us to begin to deliver those F-16s." (ISIL, short for Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, is another name for ISIS.) He added that the militant group's progress "couldn't have been stemmed through the use of two particular fighter planes."

And State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told CNN's "The Situation Room," "This kind of blame of others on the outside is quite frankly part of what's gotten Iraq into the situation it's in today. It's helped create the crisis. When we left Iraq, we gave the Iraqis the ability to create a better future. And unfortunately, leaders across the spectrum didn't step up and take the opportunity. They blamed others and didn't bring the country together."

Kurdish authorities restrict families' return

Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region put tight restrictions on the border crossings used by Iraqis fleeing ISIS militants and airstrikes in the northern city of Mosul on Saturday, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis as some desperate families may be left with nowhere to go.

The Kurdish regional government's decision to first close the border crossings and then reopen them with restrictions came on the same day Iraq's security forces went on the offensive, carrying out airstrikes in Mosul and fighting to take back Tikrit from ISIS fighters.

The offensive appeared to mark a turn for Iraqi security forces, which were routed by ISIS fighters this month during a lightning advance that saw the al Qaeda offshoot seize large swaths of northern and western Iraq.

State media and a local tribal leader reported that Iraqi forces had retaken the city of Tikrit, hometown of the late dictator Saddam Hussein.

Sheikh Khamis al-Joubouri, a key tribal leader in Tikrit, told CNN that the Iraqi security forces entered the city supported by special forces and fighters from among the local tribes, and had gained control.

He said ISIS fighters retreated in the direction of Kirkuk and the province of Nineveh.

But a combatant told a CNN freelance reporter that ISIS fighters remained in control of Tikrit, though there were fierce clashes in an area about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the city center, toward Samarra.

State-run Iraqiya TV reported that the Iraqi army and volunteer militia groups had cleared ISIS fighters from the city, having advanced on the city from four directions.

Sabah Numan, a Counter Terrorism Unit spokesman, told the station that 120 militants had been killed and 20 vehicles destroyed in a large-scale operation that began Saturday morning.

He did not provide any evidence of the claim, and CNN cannot independently confirm the reports.

Sunni tribes wade into fight

Al-Joubouri said that the tribes were not aligned with the government or with ISIS and had stayed out of the fight until now.

But, he said, when ISIS fighters who arrived in Tikrit robbed banks and carried out executions, as well as bringing the local economy to a standstill, the tribal leaders offered their help to the Iraqi security forces poised outside the city.

The tribal leaders shared their knowledge of the city, including routes and known ISIS positions, he said.

On Friday, Human Rights Watch reported the discovery in Tikrit of two mass graves believed to contain the bodies of Iraqi soldiers, police and civilians killed by ISIS and its militant allies.

Iraq's military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, told reporters Saturday that Iraq's forces had regained the upper hand against ISIS and were now being supported by the tribes.

"We are advancing in all our fights," he said.

As part of that fight, Iraqi security forces broke up a terror cell in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of al-Amiriya in eastern Baghdad, the Ministry of Defense said. Nine people were arrested following a raid Friday on a Sunni mosque, where the ministry says security forces uncovered a cache of weapons and bombs.

After being interrogated, those detained admitted they planned to carry out attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, which begins Sunday, the ministry said.

Families flee

Iraq's air force carried out a series of airstrikes on the city of Mosul, according to a senior Iraqi military official.

The airstrikes targeted four locations inside Iraq's second-largest city, including ISIS headquarters, said Mazen al-Safaar, a traffic director in Mosul.

But a doctor said the airstrikes also hit Mosul's administration building and the Old City's shopping district.

At least seven civilians were killed and two were wounded in the airstrikes, according to Dr. Salaheldin al-Naimi, the director of the health administration.

Hundreds of thousands fled when Mosul fell to ISIS almost three weeks ago. Many headed for Kurdish-controlled areas.

Mass graves, executions

In addition to the alleged executions in Tikrit, reports continue to emerge of atrocities committed by both sides.

Human Rights Watch, citing displaced residents and local activists and journalists, said Saturday that ISIS fighters kidnapped at least 40 Shiite Turkmens, dynamited four Shia places of worship, and ransacked homes and farms in two Shia villages just outside Mosul.

The few Sunni villagers who remained in Guba and Shireekhan told those who fled that at least some of the kidnapped Turkmens had been killed, the rights group said. However, they had not seen bodies and could not give more information.

ISIS destroyed seven Shia places of worship in the predominantly Shia Turkmen city of Tal Afar, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Mosul, earlier in the week, Human Rights Watch added, citing local sources.

"The ISIS rampage is part of a long pattern of attack by armed Sunni extremists on Turkmen and other minorities," said Letta Tayler, senior terrorism and counterterrorism researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The killing, bombing, and pillaging threatens to displace entire communities, possibly forever."

On Friday, Amnesty International said it had gathered evidence pointing to a pattern of "extrajudicial executions" of Sunni detainees by government forces and Shiite militias in Tal Afar, Mosul and Baquba.

"Reports of multiple incidents where Sunni detainees have been killed in cold blood while in the custody of Iraqi forces are deeply alarming," said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International's senior crisis response adviser, who is in northern Iraq.

"The killings suggest a worrying pattern of reprisal attacks against Sunnis in retaliation for ISIS."

Maps: Understand the crisis in Iraq

What is ISIS?

Iraq witnesses recall horrors in Tal Afar, Mosul

CNN's Arwa Damon, Chelsea J. Carter and Hamdi Alkhshali reported from Baghdad, and Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London. CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq, Raja Razek, Ali Younes and Yousuf Basil contributed to this report, as did journalist Shirko Raouf.

 

Dutch late show denies Mexico
6/29/2014 1:03:31 PM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Netherlands defeats Mexico 2-1 in Fortaleza
  • Wesley Sneijder and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar score late goals to secure win
  • Giovani Dos Santos had given Mexico 48th minute lead
  • Dutch will face Costa Rica or Greece in quarterfinals

How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN Facebook Pulse

(CNN) -- Better late than never.

As those in green danced with joy and celebrated the apparent end of Mexico's World Cup curse, those in orange were already planning their flights home.

Mexico, which had failed to win a last-16 match in its previous five attempts, finally appeared to have cracked it.

Giovani Dos Santos' strike, which came in the 48th minute, looked like it had secured a quarterfinal place for only the third time in nation's history -- and the first on foreign soil.

And yet, with the prize within its grasp, Mexico faltered at the last.

With just two minutes of the contest remaining, step forward Wesley Sneijder.

A man for whom nothing had gone right all afternoon. His passing was wayward, his touch was off and the quality with which he has been blessed appeared to have temporarily escaped him.

But when the Netherlands needed the Galatasaray man the most, he delivered.

With 88 minutes on the clock, the ball came out to Sneijder on the edge of the penalty area and he sent an unstoppable right-footed effort into the bottom corner.

Cue the hysteria from the Dutch fans, who had already consigned themselves to an evening of drowning their sorrows and an early flight back to Amsterdam.

In the energy-sapping conditions of Fortaleza, where the temperature pitchside reached over 100, Mexico suddenly wilted.

For the best part of 90 minutes it had negated the attacking threat of the Dutch, seen off Robin van Persie and looked good value for a place in the last eight.

After all, for a team which only qualified for the tournament following a playoff against New Zealand, a place in the quarterfinals would represent a huge success.

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Mexico, led by the charismatic and affable Miguel Herrera, have become one of the most difficult sides to beat.

But when it needed its resilience most, it failed.

Instead, Arjen Robben, the man who had tormented Mexico for large periods of the second half, was brought down inside the penalty area by Rafael Marquez.

A penalty was awarded and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar showed remarkable composure to fire low into the corner and break Mexican hearts in the fourth minute of six added on.

"The players showed they had faith and belief until the very end," van Gaal told reporters following the 2-1 victory.

"The humidity was not in our favor, so when you see that until the very last minute we were fresher and fitter than the Mexicans, that is a big compliment to my players.

"Not only did they have belief but physically they prepared so well to play this match. That of course gives us enormous confidence going forward."

Few would have expected such late drama, with the Dutch appearing to struggle to create many clear-cut opportunities before falling behind.

Mexico, which defeated Cameroon and Croatia either side of a draw with Brazil, started positively and felt it should have been given a penalty when Ron Vlaar fouled Hector Herrera.

Those appeals were dismissed by referee Pedro Proenca, as were the shouts from the Dutch when Robben was upended by a combination of Hector Moreno and Marquez.

With both teams having slowed down play following the tournament's first three-minute cooling break, introduced by FIFA to combat dehydration in the hot weather, it was little surprise that the first half ended goalless.

But the second 45 minutes proved a far more entertaining affair -- especially given Mexico's rapid start.

Dos Santos received the ball 20 yards from goal and his fierce effort flew past Jasper Cillessen and into the far corner.

That goal appeared to stun the Dutch -- a side which had swept all before it in the group stage.

After all, this was a Netherlands team which had dismantled reigning world champion Spain 5-1, beaten Chile comfortably and fought back to see off Australia.

But in the oppressive heat, the men in orange appeared to be toiling under the heavy sun.

When the Dutch did get forward, they found the irrepressible Ochoa in the form of his life.

Already a star following his performance against Brazil, where he produced save after save, the Mexico goalkeeper was at it again.

First, he denied Stefan de Vrij from close range, pushing his header onto the post before standing tall to block Robben's effort.

The Dutch looked down and out. And then it happened.

Step forward Sneijder, one of the few experienced players who was there that fateful night in South Africa when his side was beaten in the final by Spain.

With just two minutes remaining, his rasping effort flew past Ochoa and breathed new life into his ailing teammates.

Huntelaar, who had replaced the ineffective van Persie, then converted his injury-time penalty to spark wild celebrations.

A date with Costa Rica or Greece now awaits the Dutch -- for Mexico, it's home time once again.

 

Netherlands-Mexico scorers
6/29/2014 1:03:03 PM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • World Cup kicked off June 12 with host Brazil beating Croatia
  • 32 teams are divided into eight groups of four teams
  • Top two teams in each group go to knockout stages
  • Final takes place on Sunday July 13 in Rio de Janeiro

Editor's note: How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN's Facebook Pulse

(CNN) -- Sunday's last-16 fixtures (kickoff times GMT):

Costa Rica v Greece (2000)

Netherlands 2-1 Mexico (FT)

Giovani Dos Santos (48 mins)

Wesley Sneijder (88 mins)

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar penalty (94 mins)

Schedule of matches

Thursday June 12

Group A: Brazil 3-1 Croatia in Sao Paulo

Friday June 13

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Group A: Mexico 1-0 Cameroon in Natal

Group B: Spain 1-5 Netherlands in Salvador

Group B: Chile 3-1 Australia in Cuiaba

Saturday June 14

Group C: Colombia 3-0 Greece in Belo Horizonte

Group D: Uruguay 1-3 Costa Rica in Fortaleza

Group D: England 1-2 Italy in Manaus

Group C: Ivory Coast 2-1 Japan in Recife

Sunday June 15

Group E: Switzerland 2-1 Ecuador in Brasilia

Group E: France 3-0 Honduras in Porto Alegre

Group F: Argentina 2-1 Bosnia Herzegovina in Rio de Janeiro

Monday June 16

Group G: Germany 4-0 Portugal in Salvador

Group F: Iran 0-0 Nigeria in Curitiba

Group G: Ghana 1-2 USA in Natal

Tuesday June 17

Group H: Belgium 2-1 Algeria in Belo Horizonte

Group A: Brazil 0-0 Mexico in Fortaleza

Group H: Russia 1-1 South Korea in Cuiaba

Wednesday June 18

Group B: Australia 2-3 Netherlands in Porto Alegre

Group B: Spain 0-2 Chile in Rio

Group A: Cameroon 0-4 Croatia in Manaus

Thursday June 19

Group C: Colombia 2-1 Ivory Coast in Brasilia

Group D: Uruguay 2-1 England in Sao Paulo

Group C: Japan 0-0 Greece in Natal

Friday June 20

Group D: Italy 0-1 Costa Rica in Recife

Group E: Switzerland 2-5 France in Salvador

Group E: Honduras 1-2 Ecuador in Curitiba

Saturday June 21

Group F: Argentina 1-0 Iran in Belo Horizonte

Group G: Germany 2-2 Ghana in Fortaleza

Group F: Nigeria 1-0 Bosnia Herzegovina in Cuiaba

Sunday June 22

Group H: Belgium 1-0 Russia in Rio de Janeiro

Group H: South Korea 2-4 Algeria in Porto Alegre

Group G: USA 2-2 Portugal in Manaus

Monday June 23

Group B: Netherlands 2-0 Chile in Sao Paulo

Group B: Australia 0-3 Spain in Curitiba

View my Flipboard Magazine.

Group A: Brazil 4-1 Cameroon in Brasilia

Group A: Croatia 1-3 Mexico in Recife

Tuesday June 24

Group D: Italy 0-1 Uruguay in Natal

Group D: Costa Rica 0-0 England in Belo Horizonte

Group C: Japan 1-4 Colombia in Cuiaba

Group C: Greece 2-1 Ivory Coast in Fortaleza

Wednesday June 25

Group F: Nigeria 2-3 Argentina in Porto Alegre

Group F: Bosnia Herzegovina 3-1 Iran in Salvador

Group E: Honduras 0-3 Switzerland in Manaus

Group E: Ecuador 0-0 France in Rio de Janeiro

Thursday June 26

Group G: Portugal 2-1 Ghana in Brasilia

Group G: USA 0-1 Germany in Recife

Group H: South Korea 0-1 Belgium in Sao Paulo

Group H: Algeria 1-1 Russia in Curitiba

Last-16 knockout matches:

Saturday June 28

Match 49: Brazil 1-1 Chile in Belo Horizonte (Brazil wins 3-2 on penalties)

Match 50: Colombia 2-0 Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro

Sunday June 29

Match 51: Netherlands 2-1 Mexico in Fortaleza

Match 52: Costa Rica v Greece in Recife (2000)

Monday June 30:

Match 53: France v Nigeria in Brasilia (1600)

Match 54: Germany v Algeria in Porto Alegre (2000)

Tuesday July 1

Match 55: Argentina v Switzerland in Sao Paulo (1600)

Match 56: Belgium v USA in Salvador (2000)

Quarterfinals:

Friday July 4

Match 57: Winner Match 54 v Winner Match 53 in Rio de Janeiro (1600)

Match 58: Brazil v Colombia in Fortaleza (2000)

Saturday July 5

Match 59: Winner Match 55 v Winner Match 56 in Brasilia (1600)

Match 60: Netherlands v Winner Match 52 in Salvador (2000)

Semifinals

Tuesday July 8

Match 61: Winner Match 57 v Winner Match 58 in Belo Horizonte (2000)

Wednesday July 9

Match 62: Winner Match 59 v Winner Match 60 in Sao Paulo (2000)

Third and fourth place playoff

Saturday July 12

Loser Match 61 v Loser Match 62 in Brasilia (2000)

Final

Sunday July 13

Winner Match 61 v Winner Match 62 in Rio de Janeiro (1900)

 

Iraq looks to Russia for warplanes, says U.S. too slow
6/29/2014 11:34:03 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • NEW: Militants declare Islamic state extending from Syria to Iraq
  • Iraq's government is touting its offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown
  • But some residents tell CNN a different story: "There are no Iraqi troops here"
  • Iraqi security forces were routed by ISIS fighters earlier this month

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's government touted its military offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from extremists, with some officials taking to state-run television over the weekend to declare the army had defeated the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

But those who live in the city nestled along the Tigris River, about 140 kilometers (about 87 miles) northwest of Baghdad, told a different story on Sunday.

"There are no Iraqi troops here," one woman told CNN by telephone from Tikrit. The only presence, at least in her neighborhood, is the "Islamic state," she said, referring to ISIS.

The extremist group on Sunday announced the establishment of a "caliphate" and the renaming of the Islamic State in Iraq and al-sham (ISIS) to the "Islamic State" in a newly released audio message and written statement purportedly from the official spokesman of ISIS, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani al-Shami.

He said "al-Baghdadi" is the emir of the new caliphate, using his real name of Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai, but who is more commonly known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The group's statement said its flag flies from Aleppo province in Syria to Diyala province in Iraq.

It is also called on Muslims to swear allegiance to the caliphate.

CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the message.

Witnesses: Heavy shelling in Tikrit

The woman in Tikrit, who asked not to be identified over concerns for her safety, said she could hear the sounds of a fierce battle, in the form of shelling, being carried out by both sides.

A video posted on YouTube appears to support her assertion. In it, a man gives a tour of the city to show, he says, that there were no Iraqi security forces on the streets on Saturday -- the day Iraqi forces said they launched the offensive.

On the video, the man can be heard repeatedly saying "June 28, 2014," presumably to offer evidence of the date.

The man says "Thank God, Tikrit is safe and still in the hand of tribesmen and not troops of 'al-Haliki,'" a derogatory reference to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that refers to his death.

The video also shows a concrete blast wall erected around government buildings being taken down.

Witnesses inside and outside of Tikrit said Iraqi forces were heavily shelling the city.

Two days ago, the air force dropped leaflets from helicopters, demanding resident leave the city "for their safety."

A large number of people have fled Tikrit for smaller villages to the north, according to witnesses, who say Iraqi forces are battling ISIS on the southern edge of the city.

At the same time, state-run Iraqi TV showed video footage of large plumes of black smoke billowing from the city. Another video, released by the Ministry of Defense, showed Iraqi troops and convoys loaded with heavy weapons driving through the desert. The video was titled "cleansing the road between Samarra and Tikrit."

CNN cannot independently confirm the claims.

Possible turning of the tide for Iraq forces?

Iraqi security forces were routed by ISIS fighters earlier this month during a lightning advance that saw the al Qaeda offshoot seize large swaths of northern and western Iraq.

State-run Iraqiya TV reported that the Iraqi army and volunteer militia groups had cleared ISIS fighters from the city, having advanced on the city from four directions.

Sheikh Khamis al-Joubouri, a key tribal leader in Tikrit, told CNN on Saturday that the Iraqi security forces entered the city supported by special forces and fighters from among the local tribes and had gained control.

He said ISIS fighters retreated in the direction of Kirkuk and the province of Nineveh.

But a combatant told a CNN freelance reporter that ISIS fighters remained in control of Tikrit, though there were fierce clashes in an area about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the city center, toward Samarra.

Two security officials in Samarra told CNN that Iraqi soldiers stopped the militants' advance about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Tikrit because ISIS had planted mines and booby-trapped houses.

State-run TV aired footage Sunday of the arrival overnight of five Russian Sukhoi fighter jets. They are the first of 25 warplanes expected to be delivered under a contract agreed to by Moscow and Baghdad, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement provided to CNN.

The announcement follows a comment by al-Maliki that militant advances might have been avoided if Iraq had proper air power, in the form of fighter jets that Iraq has been trying to get from the United States.

"I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract" with the United States, al-Maliki told the BBC in the interview last week, which was released Friday.

Iraq has now turned to Russia and Belarus to buy fighter jets, he said. "God willing, within one week, this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens," he said.

U.S. officials were quick to reject al-Maliki's complaints. U.S. fighter jets have not been slow in coming, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told CNN. The first two promised F-16s "weren't expected to be delivered until the fall, which is still months away," Kirby said. "And we were in the process of working towards that delivery."

The advance of the al Qaeda splinter group "couldn't have been stemmed through the use of two particular fighter planes," he said.

Al-Maliki's statements about the need for air support came as American and Arab diplomats told CNN that the United States is unlikely to undertake any military strikes against the militant group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and its allied fighters before a new government is formed in Iraq.

State Department: Iraq helped create this problem

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told CNN that Iraq helped create the crisis.

"This kind of blame of others on the outside is quite frankly part of what's gotten Iraq into the situation it's in today. It's helped create the crisis. When we left Iraq, we gave the Iraqis the ability to create a better future," she said. "And unfortunately, leaders across the spectrum didn't step up and take the opportunity. They blamed others and didn't bring the country together."

Al-Maliki and his Shiite-dominated government have been under pressure by the Western and Arab diplomats to be more inclusive of Iraq's Sunni minority, who say they have been marginalized and cut out of the political process by the government.

Al-Joubouri said that the Sunni tribes in and around Tikrit were not aligned with the government or with ISIS and had stayed out of the fight until now.

But, he said, when ISIS fighters who arrived in Tikrit robbed banks and carried out executions, as well as bringing the local economy to a standstill, the tribal leaders offered their help to the Iraqi security forces poised outside the city.

The tribal leaders shared their knowledge of the city, including routes and known ISIS positions, he said.

Also, Human Rights Watch has reported the discovery in Tikrit of two mass graves believed to contain the bodies of Iraqi soldiers, police and civilians killed by ISIS and its militant allies.

In addition to the alleged executions in Tikrit, reports continue to emerge of atrocities committed by both sides.

Human Rights Watch, citing displaced residents and local activists and journalists, said Saturday that ISIS fighters kidnapped at least 40 Shiite Turkmens, dynamited four Shiite places of worship and ransacked homes and farms in two villages just outside Mosul.

The few Sunni villagers who remained in Guba and Shireekhan told those who fled that at least some of the kidnapped Turkmens had been killed, the rights group said. However, they had not seen bodies and could not give more information.

ISIS destroyed seven Shiite places of worship in the predominantly Shia Turkmen city of Tal Afar, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Mosul, earlier in the week, Human Rights Watch added, citing local sources.

But the allegations of atrocities are not just limited to ISIS. Amnesty International has said it has gathered evidence pointing to a pattern of "extrajudicial executions" of Sunni detainees by government forces and Shiite militias in Tal Afar, Mosul and Baquba.

Maps: Understand the crisis in Iraq

What is ISIS?

Iraq witnesses recall horrors in Tal Afar, Mosul

CNN's Chelsea J. Carter and Hamdi Alkhshali reported from Baghdad, and Mohammed Tawfeeq reported from Atlanta. CNN's Arwa Damon, Nima Elbaghir, Raja Razek and Yousuf Basil contributed to this report.

 

World Cup history for Costa Rica
6/29/2014 6:07:05 PM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Costa Rica defeats Greece 5-4 on penalties
  • Theofanis Gekas the man to miss from the spot
  • Bryan Ruiz gave Costa Rica 48th minute lead
  • Sokratis Papastathopoulos netted a dramatic late equalizer

How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN Facebook Pulse

(CNN) -- Nobody gave them a chance -- nobody.

Perhaps nobody was listening. Perhaps they didn't want to.

For all of the joking and laughing that Costa Rica would simply turn up in Brazil to make up the numbers, there were those who knew the reality would be different.

"Think big" is the motto that Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto has always subscribed to.

And the Colombian practices what he preaches -- qualification from the group stage was always going to be achieved if you speak to those within the Costa Rican camp.

Bravado? A fool's hope? No, this is a side which plays with a belief that comes straight from the very top and trickles through the veins of its players.

But it would be foolish to claim that this team has only succeeded because of the spirit which Pinto has engendered -- it has talent too, lots of it.

Greece, also playing in the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time, fell the way of Uruguay and Italy on Sunday, beaten by a side playing with a confidence and belief that appears to be unshakable.

With the game having reached penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw inside 120 minutes, both sets of players had already given everything they had.

Costa Rica's players, who had already suffered the ignominy of having victory snatched away from them, appeared to be running through treacle as they dragged their tired limbs down the field, stretching every muscle and sinew.

But having survived to make it through to penalties, those same players found the strength and skill to write yet another chapter in this incredible tale.

All seven players had scored and, with his side trailing 3-4 in the shootout, Theofanis Gekas strode towards the penalty spot.

But there was a look in his eyes -- fear. Time appeared to stand still. The 34-year-old looked at the ball, looked at the goal -- but that look of trepidation never left his face.

Perhaps Navas had noticed, perhaps he hadn't. It mattered little. For when Gekas stepped forward and placed the ball to the goalkeeper's right, Navas flew across to palm the ball away.

History beckoned.

Forward came Michael Umana -- a 31-year-old defender who plays in his home country with Deportivo Saprissa.

He placed the ball down, a piece of grass stuck to his cheek courtesy of the sweat which dripped from his brow.

He drew a breath. There was no shimmy, no stutter, no hesitation. As the ball hit the back of the net, those in white shirts forgot the aches and pains which had left their limbs in agony.

Whereas moments ago they could barely walk, now those men draped in the flag of Costa Rica danced their way into the Brazilian night.

"Last night, I dreamed this," Umana told reporters.

"It seems untrue. I was relaxed because I dreamed it. I dreamed it but I didn't tell anyone. I felt very confident.

"This is for my family. It's for the colleagues who got injured before coming here. They're not with us, but they gave us a hand on the pitch."

In the end this proved to be a rather exciting contest -- a world away from what was served up in the opening 45 minutes.

It was Greece that produced the only real opportunity eight minutes before the interval when Dimitris Salpingidis forced Navas into a fine reflex save from close range.

At least the second half was better -- both sides dispensing with their cautious approaches and attempting to take the advantage.

Giorgios Samaras tested Navas with a powerful header as Greece, which qualified following a dramatic late victory over the Ivory Coast, began to move forward with purpose.

But just as it appeared that Greece was ready to take control, Costa Rica pounced.

Captain Bryan Ruiz, the man whose goal saw off Italy, was the hero once again -- taking Cristian Bolanos' pass in his stride before carefully placing his effort beyond the reach of Orestis Karnezis in the Greek goal.

That strike sparked scenes of jubilation on the touchline with Pinto, animated at the best of times, celebrating his team's latest success.

Having only conceded once in three previous games, Costa Rica's defense looked more than comfortable as Greece attempted a fightback.

But with 24 minutes remaining, disaster struck for Los Ticos.

Duarte, one of the team's most dependable members, rushed into a challenge on Jose Cholevas, taking out the Greek player and earning himself a second yellow card.

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As referee Ben Williams held the red card aloft, Duarte left the pitch almost inconsolable, leaving behind his 10 teammates to try to hang on.

And hold out it did -- Costa Rica's tenacious approach kept goalkeeper Navas almost unemployed as the clock began to tick down.

But just as its players began to dream of the quarterfinals, Greece, one of the most belligerent teams in international football, proved why it remains so difficult to beat.

With 90 minutes up, substitute Gekas' low shot was only parried by Navas and Papastathopoulous lashed home.

While the Costa Ricans fell to their knees, those in blue continued the onslaught knowing its opponent had been wounded.

It might have even won it inside the 90 minutes had it not been for a wonderful save by Navas, somehow reaching to tip Kostas Mitroglou's header over the crossbar.

With neither side able to find the elusive winning goal, the tie moved into 30 minutes of extra time.

As Costa Rica began to tire, it was Greece which took control and Mitroglou was denied a dramatic late winner by Navas when the striker looked certain to score.

That ensured the tie would be decided on penalties and when Gekas had his effort saved, Umana stood up to rewrite history.

A tie with the Netherlands in Salvador next Saturday is the reward for this Costa Rican team -- a game in which no doubt it will be written off once again.

But for now Costa Rica's players will do what they've done from the very start.

They'll "think big."

Read: Dutch leave it late

Read: Brazil in penalty triumph

 

Dutch late show denies Mexico
6/29/2014 1:18:56 PM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Netherlands defeats Mexico 2-1 in Fortaleza
  • Wesley Sneijder and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar score late goals to secure win
  • Giovani Dos Santos had given Mexico 48th minute lead
  • Dutch will face Costa Rica in quarterfinals

How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN Facebook Pulse

(CNN) -- Better late than never.

As those in green danced with joy and celebrated the apparent end of Mexico's World Cup curse, those in orange were already planning their flights home.

Mexico, which had failed to win a last-16 match in its previous five attempts, finally appeared to have cracked it.

Giovani Dos Santos' strike, which came in the 48th minute, looked like it had secured a quarterfinal place for only the third time in nation's history -- and the first on foreign soil.

And yet, with the prize within its grasp, Mexico faltered at the last.

With just two minutes of the contest remaining, step forward Wesley Sneijder.

A man for whom nothing had gone right all afternoon. His passing was wayward, his touch was off and the quality with which he has been blessed appeared to have temporarily escaped him.

But when the Netherlands needed the Galatasaray man the most, he delivered.

With 88 minutes on the clock, the ball came out to Sneijder on the edge of the penalty area and he sent an unstoppable right-footed effort into the bottom corner.

Cue the hysteria from the Dutch fans, who had already consigned themselves to an evening of drowning their sorrows and an early flight back to Amsterdam.

In the energy-sapping conditions of Fortaleza, where the temperature pitchside reached over 100, Mexico suddenly wilted.

For the best part of 90 minutes it had negated the attacking threat of the Dutch, seen off Robin van Persie and looked good value for a place in the last eight.

After all, for a team which only qualified for the tournament following a playoff against New Zealand, a place in the quarterfinals would represent a huge success.

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Mexico, led by the charismatic and affable Miguel Herrera, have become one of the most difficult sides to beat.

But when it needed its resilience most, it failed.

Instead, Arjen Robben, the man who had tormented Mexico for large periods of the second half, was brought down inside the penalty area by Rafael Marquez.

While the Mexican players protested following Robben's spectacular fall, their anger fell on deaf ears.

"He dived three times, he should have cautioned him the first time," Miguel Herrera, the Mexico coach, told reporters of Robben after the game.

"It seems to me the reason (we lost) was the referee, the man with the whistle. He left us outside the next stage of the World Cup.

"If the referee starts marking fouls that don't exist, you leave the World Cup to circumstances out of your hands. We expect the referee committee to take a look at that and that this gentleman goes home, just like us."

Herrera was still seething after the game as he addressed the press -- and television replays suggested he had a point.

Nevertheless, a penalty was awarded and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar showed remarkable composure to fire low into the corner and break Mexican hearts in the fourth minute of six added on.

"The players showed they had faith and belief until the very end," van Gaal told reporters following the 2-1 victory.

"The humidity was not in our favor, so when you see that until the very last minute we were fresher and fitter than the Mexicans, that is a big compliment to my players.

"Not only did they have belief but physically they prepared so well to play this match. That of course gives us enormous confidence going forward."

Few would have expected such late drama, with the Dutch appearing to struggle to create many clear-cut opportunities before falling behind.

Mexico, which defeated Cameroon and Croatia either side of a draw with Brazil, started positively and felt it should have been given a penalty when Ron Vlaar fouled Hector Herrera.

Those appeals were dismissed by referee Pedro Proenca, as were the shouts from the Dutch when Robben was upended by a combination of Hector Moreno and Marquez.

With both teams having slowed down play following the tournament's first three-minute cooling break, introduced by FIFA to combat dehydration in the hot weather, it was little surprise that the first half ended goalless.

But the second 45 minutes proved a far more entertaining affair -- especially given Mexico's rapid start.

Dos Santos received the ball 20 yards from goal and his fierce effort flew past Jasper Cillessen and into the far corner.

That goal appeared to stun the Dutch -- a side which had swept all before it in the group stage.

After all, this was a Netherlands team which had dismantled reigning world champion Spain 5-1, beaten Chile comfortably and fought back to see off Australia.

But in the oppressive heat, the men in orange appeared to be toiling under the heavy sun.

When the Dutch did get forward, they found the irrepressible Ochoa in the form of his life.

Already a star following his performance against Brazil, where he produced save after save, the Mexico goalkeeper was at it again.

First, he denied Stefan de Vrij from close range, pushing his header onto the post before standing tall to block Robben's effort.

The Dutch looked down and out. And then it happened.

Step forward Sneijder, one of the few experienced players who was there that fateful night in South Africa when his side was beaten in the final by Spain.

With just two minutes remaining, his rasping effort flew past Ochoa and breathed new life into his ailing teammates.

Huntelaar, who had replaced the ineffective van Persie, then converted his injury-time penalty to spark wild celebrations.

A date with Costa Rica now awaits the Dutch -- for Mexico, it's home time once again.

Brazil 2014 World Cup: schedule of matches

 

Sunday's last-16 results, schedule
6/29/2014 6:13:00 PM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • World Cup kicked off June 12 with host Brazil beating Croatia
  • 32 teams are divided into eight groups of four teams
  • Top two teams in each group go to knockout stages
  • Final takes place on Sunday July 13 in Rio de Janeiro

Editor's note: How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN's Facebook Pulse

(CNN) -- Sunday's last-16 results:

Costa Rica 1-1 Greece (Costa Rica wins 5-3 on penalties)

Bryan Ruiz (52 mins)

Red card: Oscar Duarte (66 mins)

Sokratis Papastathopoulos (90 + 1 mins)

Netherlands 2-1 Mexico (FT)

Giovani Dos Santos (48 mins)

Wesley Sneijder (88 mins)

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar penalty (94 mins)

Schedule of matches (kickoff times GMT):

Thursday June 12

Group A: Brazil 3-1 Croatia in Sao Paulo

Friday June 13

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Group A: Mexico 1-0 Cameroon in Natal

Group B: Spain 1-5 Netherlands in Salvador

Group B: Chile 3-1 Australia in Cuiaba

Saturday June 14

Group C: Colombia 3-0 Greece in Belo Horizonte

Group D: Uruguay 1-3 Costa Rica in Fortaleza

Group D: England 1-2 Italy in Manaus

Group C: Ivory Coast 2-1 Japan in Recife

Sunday June 15

Group E: Switzerland 2-1 Ecuador in Brasilia

Group E: France 3-0 Honduras in Porto Alegre

Group F: Argentina 2-1 Bosnia Herzegovina in Rio de Janeiro

Monday June 16

Group G: Germany 4-0 Portugal in Salvador

Group F: Iran 0-0 Nigeria in Curitiba

Group G: Ghana 1-2 USA in Natal

Tuesday June 17

Group H: Belgium 2-1 Algeria in Belo Horizonte

Group A: Brazil 0-0 Mexico in Fortaleza

Group H: Russia 1-1 South Korea in Cuiaba

Wednesday June 18

Group B: Australia 2-3 Netherlands in Porto Alegre

Group B: Spain 0-2 Chile in Rio

Group A: Cameroon 0-4 Croatia in Manaus

Thursday June 19

Group C: Colombia 2-1 Ivory Coast in Brasilia

Group D: Uruguay 2-1 England in Sao Paulo

Group C: Japan 0-0 Greece in Natal

Friday June 20

Group D: Italy 0-1 Costa Rica in Recife

Group E: Switzerland 2-5 France in Salvador

Group E: Honduras 1-2 Ecuador in Curitiba

Saturday June 21

Group F: Argentina 1-0 Iran in Belo Horizonte

Group G: Germany 2-2 Ghana in Fortaleza

Group F: Nigeria 1-0 Bosnia Herzegovina in Cuiaba

Sunday June 22

Group H: Belgium 1-0 Russia in Rio de Janeiro

Group H: South Korea 2-4 Algeria in Porto Alegre

Group G: USA 2-2 Portugal in Manaus

Monday June 23

Group B: Netherlands 2-0 Chile in Sao Paulo

Group B: Australia 0-3 Spain in Curitiba

View my Flipboard Magazine.

Group A: Brazil 4-1 Cameroon in Brasilia

Group A: Croatia 1-3 Mexico in Recife

Tuesday June 24

Group D: Italy 0-1 Uruguay in Natal

Group D: Costa Rica 0-0 England in Belo Horizonte

Group C: Japan 1-4 Colombia in Cuiaba

Group C: Greece 2-1 Ivory Coast in Fortaleza

Wednesday June 25

Group F: Nigeria 2-3 Argentina in Porto Alegre

Group F: Bosnia Herzegovina 3-1 Iran in Salvador

Group E: Honduras 0-3 Switzerland in Manaus

Group E: Ecuador 0-0 France in Rio de Janeiro

Thursday June 26

Group G: Portugal 2-1 Ghana in Brasilia

Group G: USA 0-1 Germany in Recife

Group H: South Korea 0-1 Belgium in Sao Paulo

Group H: Algeria 1-1 Russia in Curitiba

Last-16 knockout matches:

Saturday June 28

Match 49: Brazil 1-1 Chile in Belo Horizonte (Brazil wins 3-2 on penalties)

Match 50: Colombia 2-0 Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro

Sunday June 29

Match 51: Netherlands 2-1 Mexico in Fortaleza

Match 52: Costa Rica 1-1 Greece in Recife (Costa Rica wins 5-3 on penalties)

Monday June 30:

Match 53: France v Nigeria in Brasilia (1600)

Match 54: Germany v Algeria in Porto Alegre (2000)

Tuesday July 1

Match 55: Argentina v Switzerland in Sao Paulo (1600)

Match 56: Belgium v USA in Salvador (2000)

Quarterfinals:

Friday July 4

Match 57: Winner Match 54 v Winner Match 53 in Rio de Janeiro (1600)

Match 58: Brazil v Colombia in Fortaleza (2000)

Saturday July 5

Match 59: Winner Match 55 v Winner Match 56 in Brasilia (1600)

Match 60: Netherlands v Costa Rica in Salvador (2000)

Semifinals

Tuesday July 8

Match 61: Winner Match 57 v Winner Match 58 in Belo Horizonte (2000)

Wednesday July 9

Match 62: Winner Match 59 v Winner Match 60 in Sao Paulo (2000)

Third and fourth place playoff

Saturday July 12

Loser Match 61 v Loser Match 62 in Brasilia (2000)

Final

Sunday July 13

Winner Match 61 v Winner Match 62 in Rio de Janeiro (1900)

 

ISIS declares Islamic State as fighting rages in Tikrit
6/29/2014 7:04:51 PM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Militants declare Islamic state extending from Syria to Iraq
  • Iraq's government is touting its offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown
  • But some residents tell CNN a different story: "There are no Iraqi troops here"
  • Iraqi security forces were routed by ISIS fighters earlier this month

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's government touted its military offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from extremists, with some officials taking to state-run television over the weekend to declare the army had defeated the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

But those who live in the city nestled along the Tigris River, about 140 kilometers (about 87 miles) northwest of Baghdad, told a different story on Sunday.

"There are no Iraqi troops here," one woman told CNN by telephone from Tikrit. The only presence, at least in her neighborhood, is the "Islamic state," she said, referring to ISIS.

The extremist group on Sunday announced the establishment of a "caliphate" and the renaming of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to the "Islamic State" in a newly released audio message and written statement purportedly from the official spokesman of ISIS, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani al-Shami.

He said "al-Baghdadi" is the emir of the new caliphate, using his real name of Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai, but who is more commonly known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The group's statement said its flag flies from Aleppo province in Syria to Diyala province in Iraq.

It is also called on Muslims to swear allegiance to the caliphate, which means Islamic state.

CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the message.

Witnesses: Heavy shelling in Tikrit

The woman in Tikrit, who asked not to be identified over concerns for her safety, said she could hear the sounds of a fierce battle, in the form of shelling, being carried out by both sides.

A video posted on YouTube appears to support her assertion. In it, a man gives a tour of the city to show, he says, that there were no Iraqi security forces on the streets on Saturday -- the day Iraqi forces said they launched the offensive.

On the video, the man can be heard repeatedly saying "June 28, 2014," presumably to offer evidence of the date.

The man says "Thank God, Tikrit is safe and still in the hand of tribesmen and not troops of 'al-Haliki,'" a derogatory reference to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that refers to his death.

The video also shows a concrete blast wall erected around government buildings being taken down.

Witnesses inside and outside of Tikrit said Iraqi forces were heavily shelling the city.

Two days ago, the air force dropped leaflets from helicopters, demanding resident leave the city "for their safety."

A large number of people have fled Tikrit for smaller villages to the north, according to witnesses, who say Iraqi forces are battling ISIS on the southern edge of the city.

At the same time, state-run Iraqi TV showed video footage of large plumes of black smoke billowing from the city. Another video, released by the Ministry of Defense, showed Iraqi troops and convoys loaded with heavy weapons driving through the desert. The video was titled "cleansing the road between Samarra and Tikrit."

CNN cannot independently confirm the claims.

Possible turning of the tide for Iraq forces?

Iraqi security forces were routed by ISIS fighters earlier this month during a lightning advance that saw the al Qaeda offshoot seize large swaths of northern and western Iraq.

State-run Iraqiya TV reported that the Iraqi army and volunteer militia groups had cleared ISIS fighters from the city, having advanced on the city from four directions.

Sheikh Khamis al-Joubouri, a key tribal leader in Tikrit, told CNN on Saturday that the Iraqi security forces entered the city supported by special forces and fighters from among the local tribes and had gained control.

He said ISIS fighters retreated in the direction of Kirkuk and the province of Nineveh.

But a combatant told a CNN freelance reporter that ISIS fighters remained in control of Tikrit, though there were fierce clashes in an area about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the city center, toward Samarra.

Two security officials in Samarra told CNN that Iraqi soldiers stopped the militants' advance about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Tikrit because ISIS had planted mines and booby-trapped houses.

State-run TV aired footage Sunday of the arrival overnight of five Russian Sukhoi fighter jets. They are the first of 25 warplanes expected to be delivered under a contract agreed to by Moscow and Baghdad, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement provided to CNN.

The announcement follows a comment by al-Maliki that militant advances might have been avoided if Iraq had proper air power, in the form of fighter jets that Iraq has been trying to get from the United States.

"I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract" with the United States, al-Maliki told the BBC in the interview last week, which was released Friday.

Iraq has now turned to Russia and Belarus to buy fighter jets, he said. "God willing, within one week, this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens," he said.

U.S. officials were quick to reject al-Maliki's complaints. U.S. fighter jets have not been slow in coming, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told CNN. The first two promised F-16s "weren't expected to be delivered until the fall, which is still months away," Kirby said. "And we were in the process of working towards that delivery."

The advance of the al Qaeda splinter group "couldn't have been stemmed through the use of two particular fighter planes," he said.

Al-Maliki's statements about the need for air support came as American and Arab diplomats told CNN that the United States is unlikely to undertake any military strikes against the militant group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and its allied fighters before a new government is formed in Iraq.

State Department: Iraq helped create this problem

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told CNN that Iraq helped create the crisis.

"This kind of blame of others on the outside is quite frankly part of what's gotten Iraq into the situation it's in today. It's helped create the crisis. When we left Iraq, we gave the Iraqis the ability to create a better future," she said. "And unfortunately, leaders across the spectrum didn't step up and take the opportunity. They blamed others and didn't bring the country together."

Al-Maliki and his Shiite-dominated government have been under pressure by the Western and Arab diplomats to be more inclusive of Iraq's Sunni minority, who say they have been marginalized and cut out of the political process by the government.

Al-Joubouri said that the Sunni tribes in and around Tikrit were not aligned with the government or with ISIS and had stayed out of the fight until now.

But, he said, when ISIS fighters who arrived in Tikrit robbed banks and carried out executions, as well as bringing the local economy to a standstill, the tribal leaders offered their help to the Iraqi security forces poised outside the city.

The tribal leaders shared their knowledge of the city, including routes and known ISIS positions, he said.

Also, Human Rights Watch has reported the discovery in Tikrit of two mass graves believed to contain the bodies of Iraqi soldiers, police and civilians killed by ISIS and its militant allies.

In addition to the alleged executions in Tikrit, reports continue to emerge of atrocities committed by both sides.

Human Rights Watch, citing displaced residents and local activists and journalists, said Saturday that ISIS fighters kidnapped at least 40 Shiite Turkmens, dynamited four Shiite places of worship and ransacked homes and farms in two villages just outside Mosul.

The few Sunni villagers who remained in Guba and Shireekhan told those who fled that at least some of the kidnapped Turkmens had been killed, the rights group said. However, they had not seen bodies and could not give more information.

ISIS destroyed seven Shiite places of worship in the predominantly Shia Turkmen city of Tal Afar, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Mosul, earlier in the week, Human Rights Watch added, citing local sources.

But the allegations of atrocities are not just limited to ISIS. Amnesty International has said it has gathered evidence pointing to a pattern of "extrajudicial executions" of Sunni detainees by government forces and Shiite militias in Tal Afar, Mosul and Baquba.

Maps: Understand the crisis in Iraq

What is ISIS?

Iraq witnesses recall horrors in Tal Afar, Mosul

CNN's Chelsea J. Carter and Hamdi Alkhshali reported from Baghdad, and Mohammed Tawfeeq reported from Atlanta. CNN's Arwa Damon, Nima Elbaghir, Raja Razek and Yousuf Basil contributed to this report.

 

Statue of WWI assassin unveiled
6/29/2014 9:59:32 PM

Bosnian actor Jovan Mojsilovic poses with a plastic gun replica at the unveiling of a statue of Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, June 27.
Bosnian actor Jovan Mojsilovic poses with a plastic gun replica at the unveiling of a statue of Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, June 27.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Gavrilo Princip fired the shots on June 28, 1914
  • He fatally shot Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife
  • The assassination is considered the start of World War I

(CNN) -- One hundred years after firing the shot that set off World War I, Gavrilo Princip was toasted by some Saturday in Sarajevo -- whether they wore T-shirts emblazoned with his face or admired a statue recently unveiled in his honor.

Today, opinions on Princip are mixed. Some in Bosnia-Herzegovina -- of which Sarajevo is the capital -- think he was a terrorist, reported CNN affiliate N1 in Yugoslavia. But there are also a number of Bosnian Serbs who view him as a hero, N1 reported.

7 things you didn't know about Gavrilo Princip

The former viewpoint was on display in Friday's unveiling of a statue of Princip in Sarajevo. Media footage showed officials clapping as others looked on to catch a glimpse of the life-sized portrayal.

The unveiling of the statue was one of many events, including concerts and symposiums, Sarajevo is holding this weekend to mark the start of World War I.

Princip was 19 years old June 28, 1914, when he assassinated Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia, as the couple rode in an automobile through the streets.

"The shooting acted as a trigger, metastasizing from a Balkan street corner into a continental crisis by releasing pent-up tension between rival blocs of Great European Powers: the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany on one side and France, Russia and Great Britain on the other," Tim Butcher, author of "The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin who Brought the World to War," wrote in an op-ed piece for CNN.com.

Millions were killed in the conflict that changed the political landscape of Europe

The 'bionic men' of World War I

How World War I gave us 'cooties'

 

Benghazi suspect controversy
6/29/2014 11:23:35 PM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • NEW: Official: Abu Khatallah denied involvement but gave info on others
  • Abu Khatallah gave information before and after he was told his Miranda rights
  • Sen. Lindsey Graham: Mirandizing Abu Khatallah "would be a mistake for the ages"
  • He is suspected of being the ringleader of the September 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya

Washington (CNN) -- During his two weeks aboard a ship to the United States, Ahmed Abu Khatallah was questioned by FBI interrogators over his alleged role in the 2012 Benghazi attacks that left four Americans dead.

As it turns out, he was interrogated both before and after authorities told him of his Miranda rights -- which give him the right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination, a U.S. official told CNN.

But Abu Khatallah continued providing information to officials after being advised of those rights, the official said.

The handling of his case has triggered fallout in Washington.

"I have serious concerns that conducting a rushed interrogation onboard a ship and then turning Abu Khatallah over to our civilian courts risks losing critical intelligence that could lead us to other terrorists or prevent future attacks," Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-New Hampshire, said in a statement Saturday.

A U.S. official told CNN that Abu Khatallah denied participation in the Benghazi attacks during his interviews with interrogators -- but provided information on others he said participated and were behind the attacks.

It wasn't clear if he provided the information before or after he was advised of his Miranda warning.

Shortly after the White House announced the capture earlier this month, Republicans like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio criticized the Obama administration because they believed the alleged terrorist should go through a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay instead of being tried in a federal court.

"If they bring him to the United States, they're going to Mirandize this guy, and it would be a mistake for the ages to read this guy his Miranda rights," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has said.

But the White House has defended its decision, saying that they have successfully tried a number of terrorists domestically and that no new captives have gone to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in years.

Abu Khatallah arrived on U.S. soil Saturday. After two weeks aboard the USS New York sailing from the Mediterranean Sea to the East Coast, Abu Khatallah was flown by helicopter to Washington and was driven to a federal courthouse.

There, he pleaded not guilty to one count of providing material support to terrorists. Prosecutors say he is the ringleader of the 2012 attacks on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya, which killed U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

More charges possible

The single count is part of a legal strategy by federal prosecutors, who plan to file additional charges later, according to U.S. officials. The aim is to delay releasing to the public and Abu Khatallah's lawyer the FBI affidavit detailing the evidence the government has against him.

An earlier criminal complaint in July 2013 said the FBI believed it had evidence to charge him with murder and firing a weapon at the scene of the Benghazi attacks. Those additional charges, if formally added, could bring the death penalty.

In his court appearance, Abu Khatallah, a Libyan national, requested consular assistance from the Libyan government. U.S. authorities were working with Libyan embassy officials in Washington to provide him the assistance.

After the hearing, armed guards accompanied Abu Khatallah from the federal courthouse in downtown Washington, a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol and near the White House.

He was then moved to the detention center in Alexandria, Virginia, which is across the Potomac River from the capital.

Details of the attacks

Authorities say Abu Khatallah is among the senior leaders of Ansar al Sharia, whose members were among several militias that participated in the attacks on U.S. government facilities in Benghazi on September 11-12, 2012.

The attacks spawned political controversy in the United States because some Republican lawmakers claim the Obama administration tried to mislead the public about them and should have done more to prevent them.

The GOP critics say they plan to make Benghazi an issue for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, under whose watch the attacks occurred, should she decide to run for president.

The criminal investigation led by the FBI has been extraordinarily challenging, authorities say, partly because the lack of Libyan government control in the city prevented investigators from visiting the crime scene for weeks.

But U.S. officials say they collected surveillance video, phone recordings and witness statements to bring charges against Abu Khatallah and others involved.

Abu Khatallah became the face of the militant attack and a top target for the U.S. after he cultivated a celebrity profile in the wake of the attacks, meeting with journalists and granting interviews. He denied to CNN's Arwa Damon that he participated in the attacks.

U.S. military commandos captured Abu Khatallah in a nighttime raid June 15-16. U.S. intelligence assets concocted a ruse to lure him to a villa where the Americans surprised him. The commandos, accompanied by several FBI agents, had come ashore by boat and quickly took him back out to sea with them.

Abu Khatallah was appointed a public defender, Michele Peterson. He was ordered to remain in custody until hearings set for Wednesday and Friday.

Timeline of the Benghazi attack

What's next for Benghazi terror suspect?

Benghazi 'mastermind' captured without a single shot

CNN's Sara Fisher and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.

 

Blast kills actress in Syria home
6/29/2014 3:26:17 AM

A young actress was killed this week in Damascus when her home was shelled. CNN's Jessica King reports.

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Tea Party leader commits suicide
6/28/2014 12:25:41 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Police: Mayfield's wife alerted authorities; body had a revolver nearby
  • Sen. Cochran adviser: "This is very much a tragic and sad situation"
  • Mississippi Tea Party laments loss of "cheerleader" with "a patriot's soul"
  • Mayfield was charged in a picture-taking incident involving senator's wife

(CNN) -- A tea party leader tied to alleged political dirty tricks that rattled Republicans in Mississippi and beyond is dead -- shot once in the head in an apparent suicide, according to police.

Police officers in Ridgeland, Mississippi, found Mark Mayfield's body shortly after 9 a.m. Friday on the floor of a storage room in his garage.

"Because all of the indications, it appears to be suicide, but we still got some things to look into," Ridgeland police Chief Jimmy Houston told CNN. "He left a suicide note, and we are verifying its validity."

Authorities haven't disclosed the contents of that note or why Mayfield might have taken his life.

Yet the lawyer and Mississippi Tea Party leader has been under fire for the past month, having been charged with three others -- according to The Clarion-Ledger newspaper -- in connection to a blogger accused of taking a picture of Sen. Thad Cochran's wife in her nursing home bed. This came a week after the blogger, Clayton Kelly, was himself charged.

All were apparent allies of conservative state Sen. Chris McDaniel, who was then engaged in an ugly primary battle to see who would be the GOP Senate candidate from Mississippi.

The photo of Cochran's wife -- who suffers from dementia and has lived in a nursing home for 14 years -- surfaced in a political attack ad on YouTube that aimed to smear Cochran, The Clarion-Ledger reported. It's unclear how the photo was used because the ad was removed within hours of being posted, according to the newspaper.

This episode and others further inflamed the rhetoric in the primary fight. Cochran's spokesman Jordan Russell, for example, said last month that Mayfield and the others' arrests "raises even more questions the McDaniel campaign needs to answer."

But on Friday, Cochran -- who narrowly edged McDaniel in Tuesday's primary -- and his team showed only sympathy upon hearing about Mayfield's death.

"This is very much a tragic and sad situation," said Austin Barbour, a senior adviser to Cochran's campaign. "Mark was a really good guy. On behalf of Sen. Cochran and all of us for the campaign, our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and his friends."

Report: Mayfield faced conspiracy charges

Mark Mayfield leaves behind his wife and two children.

He also leaves a legacy in Mississippi in other ways, as a lawyer and a political leader. The Mississippi Tea Party remembered him as one of its founding members "and one of our biggest cheerleaders."

"He had a patriot's soul, and a smile that was as big as day," the group said on its website.

Outside Mississippi, Mayfield became part of a bigger national story one week after authorities arrested political blogger Clayton Kelly for allegedly exploiting a vulnerable adult and illegally and improperly obtaining a photo of her without her consent for his own benefit, according to the Madison, Mississippi, Police Department.

Blogger's arrest shakes up Mississippi GOP primary

Mayfield was later arrested along with Richard Sager, an elementary school P.E. teacher and high school coach, according to The Clarion-Ledger newspaper. Police also charged a third individual, John Beachman Mary, but did not take him into custody because of "extensive medical conditions."

All three face conspiracy charges, the newspaper reported.

Mayfield's death came two days after the runoff to decide his state's GOP Senate nominee -- an election necessitated since neither Cochran nor McDaniel cracked 50% in the June 3 primary.

Cochran won the latest contest by fewer than 7,000 votes, aided by African-American Democrats who were actively courted during the runoff campaign by pro-Cochran forces.

According to Mississippi law, voters are not required to register with a political party, and anyone who doesn't vote in a primary election can cast a ballot in either party's runoff.

McDaniel repeated his vow to use every legal maneuver available to fight the runoff results.

Lawyer, friend: 'My heart is completely broken'

Still, while that political fight continues, the focus Thursday was on Mayfield and his family.

His wife Robin was the only other person at the family's Ridgeland residence at the time, and also the one who alerted authorities.

The 57-year-old Mayfield was found dead of a lone gunshot wound, alongside a large caliber revolver.

Mayfield's attorney, Merrida Coxwell, said in a statement e-mailed to CNN that he was a client "but more importantly, he was a friend for almost 34 years.

"My heart is completely broken. This is beyond tragic and the people of this community and state have lost a good man and citizen."

In a phone call with CNN, Coxwell added, "It's not important to me how it happened. It happened today. Mark's wife called and texted me that Mark was deceased."

And McDaniel posted a statement on his Facebook page saying that, "regardless of recent allegations made against his character, Mark Mayfield was a fine Christian man who was always respectful and kind."

"He was one of the most polite and humble men I've ever met in politics," the state senator added. "He was a loving husband, father, a pillar of his community, and he will be missed."

McDaniel says irregularities found

Who is Thad Cochran?

Blogger's arrest shakes up Mississippi Republican primary

CNN's Carma Hassan and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report.

 

ISIS declares Islamic State as fighting rages in Tikrit
6/29/2014 7:44:19 PM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Militants declare Islamic state extending from Syria to Iraq
  • Iraq's government is touting its offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown
  • But some residents tell CNN a different story: "There are no Iraqi troops here"
  • Iraqi security forces were routed by ISIS fighters earlier this month

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's government touted its military offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from extremists, with some officials taking to state-run television over the weekend to declare the army had defeated the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

But those who live in the city nestled along the Tigris River, about 140 kilometers (about 87 miles) northwest of Baghdad, told a different story on Sunday.

"There are no Iraqi troops here," one woman told CNN by telephone from Tikrit. The only presence, at least in her neighborhood, is the "Islamic state," she said, referring to ISIS.

The extremist group on Sunday announced the establishment of a "caliphate" and the renaming of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to the "Islamic State" in a newly released audio message and written statement purportedly from the official spokesman of ISIS, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani al-Shami.

He said "al-Baghdadi" is the emir of the new caliphate, using his real name of Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai, but who is more commonly known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The group's statement said its flag flies from Aleppo province in Syria to Diyala province in Iraq.

It is also called on Muslims to swear allegiance to the caliphate, which means Islamic state.

CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the message.

Witnesses: Heavy shelling in Tikrit

The woman in Tikrit, who asked not to be identified over concerns for her safety, said she could hear the sounds of a fierce battle, in the form of shelling, being carried out by both sides.

A video posted on YouTube appears to support her assertion. In it, a man gives a tour of the city to show, he says, that there were no Iraqi security forces on the streets on Saturday -- the day Iraqi forces said they launched the offensive.

On the video, the man can be heard repeatedly saying "June 28, 2014," presumably to offer evidence of the date.

The man says "Thank God, Tikrit is safe and still in the hand of tribesmen and not troops of 'al-Haliki,'" a derogatory reference to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that refers to his death.

The video also shows a concrete blast wall erected around government buildings being taken down.

Witnesses inside and outside of Tikrit said Iraqi forces were heavily shelling the city.

Two days ago, the air force dropped leaflets from helicopters, demanding resident leave the city "for their safety."

A large number of people have fled Tikrit for smaller villages to the north, according to witnesses, who say Iraqi forces are battling ISIS on the southern edge of the city.

At the same time, state-run Iraqi TV showed video footage of large plumes of black smoke billowing from the city. Another video, released by the Ministry of Defense, showed Iraqi troops and convoys loaded with heavy weapons driving through the desert. The video was titled "cleansing the road between Samarra and Tikrit."

CNN cannot independently confirm the claims.

Possible turning of the tide for Iraq forces?

Iraqi security forces were routed by ISIS fighters earlier this month during a lightning advance that saw the al Qaeda offshoot seize large swaths of northern and western Iraq.

State-run Iraqiya TV reported that the Iraqi army and volunteer militia groups had cleared ISIS fighters from the city, having advanced on the city from four directions.

Sheikh Khamis al-Joubouri, a key tribal leader in Tikrit, told CNN on Saturday that the Iraqi security forces entered the city supported by special forces and fighters from among the local tribes and had gained control.

He said ISIS fighters retreated in the direction of Kirkuk and the province of Nineveh.

But a combatant told a CNN freelance reporter that ISIS fighters remained in control of Tikrit, though there were fierce clashes in an area about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the city center, toward Samarra.

Two security officials in Samarra told CNN that Iraqi soldiers stopped the militants' advance about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Tikrit because ISIS had planted mines and booby-trapped houses.

State-run TV aired footage Sunday of the arrival overnight of five Russian Sukhoi fighter jets. They are the first of 25 warplanes expected to be delivered under a contract agreed to by Moscow and Baghdad, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement provided to CNN.

The announcement follows a comment by al-Maliki that militant advances might have been avoided if Iraq had proper air power, in the form of fighter jets that Iraq has been trying to get from the United States.

"I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract" with the United States, al-Maliki told the BBC in the interview last week, which was released Friday.

Iraq has now turned to Russia and Belarus to buy fighter jets, he said. "God willing, within one week, this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens," he said.

U.S. officials were quick to reject al-Maliki's complaints. U.S. fighter jets have not been slow in coming, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told CNN. The first two promised F-16s "weren't expected to be delivered until the fall, which is still months away," Kirby said. "And we were in the process of working towards that delivery."

The advance of the al Qaeda splinter group "couldn't have been stemmed through the use of two particular fighter planes," he said.

Al-Maliki's statements about the need for air support came as American and Arab diplomats told CNN that the United States is unlikely to undertake any military strikes against the militant group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and its allied fighters before a new government is formed in Iraq.

State Department: Iraq helped create this problem

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told CNN that Iraq helped create the crisis.

"This kind of blame of others on the outside is quite frankly part of what's gotten Iraq into the situation it's in today. It's helped create the crisis. When we left Iraq, we gave the Iraqis the ability to create a better future," she said. "And unfortunately, leaders across the spectrum didn't step up and take the opportunity. They blamed others and didn't bring the country together."

Al-Maliki and his Shiite-dominated government have been under pressure by the Western and Arab diplomats to be more inclusive of Iraq's Sunni minority, who say they have been marginalized and cut out of the political process by the government.

Al-Joubouri said that the Sunni tribes in and around Tikrit were not aligned with the government or with ISIS and had stayed out of the fight until now.

But, he said, when ISIS fighters who arrived in Tikrit robbed banks and carried out executions, as well as bringing the local economy to a standstill, the tribal leaders offered their help to the Iraqi security forces poised outside the city.

The tribal leaders shared their knowledge of the city, including routes and known ISIS positions, he said.

Also, Human Rights Watch has reported the discovery in Tikrit of two mass graves believed to contain the bodies of Iraqi soldiers, police and civilians killed by ISIS and its militant allies.

In addition to the alleged executions in Tikrit, reports continue to emerge of atrocities committed by both sides.

Human Rights Watch, citing displaced residents and local activists and journalists, said Saturday that ISIS fighters kidnapped at least 40 Shiite Turkmens, dynamited four Shiite places of worship and ransacked homes and farms in two villages just outside Mosul.

The few Sunni villagers who remained in Guba and Shireekhan told those who fled that at least some of the kidnapped Turkmens had been killed, the rights group said. However, they had not seen bodies and could not give more information.

ISIS destroyed seven Shiite places of worship in the predominantly Shia Turkmen city of Tal Afar, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Mosul, earlier in the week, Human Rights Watch added, citing local sources.

But the allegations of atrocities are not just limited to ISIS. Amnesty International has said it has gathered evidence pointing to a pattern of "extrajudicial executions" of Sunni detainees by government forces and Shiite militias in Tal Afar, Mosul and Baquba.

Maps: Understand the crisis in Iraq

What is ISIS?

Iraq witnesses recall horrors in Tal Afar, Mosul

CNN's Chelsea J. Carter and Hamdi Alkhshali reported from Baghdad, and Mohammed Tawfeeq reported from Atlanta. CNN's Arwa Damon, Nima Elbaghir, Raja Razek and Yousuf Basil contributed to this report.

 

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