Islamic State turned Mosul into city of terror and darkness
By LORI HINNANT She survived the first stone that struck her, then the second. One of the Islamic State group’s fighters bent down and pressed his fingers to the side…
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Islamic State group leader rallies his fighters in Mosul
By ADAM SCHRECK The shadowy leader of the Islamic State group has released a new message urging his followers to keep up the fight for Mosul as they defend the…
In battle for Iraq’s Mosul, many forces with many motives
By SUSANNAH GEORGE and LEE KEATH An unlikely array of forces is converging on the city of Mosul, lining up for a battle on the historic plains of northern Iraq…
Islamic State kills dozens of its own in hunt for spies
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and BASSEM MROUE In March, a senior commander with the Islamic State group was driving through northern Syria on orders to lead militants in the fighting there…
Family says daughter raped repeatedly while held by IS
By KEN DILANIAN American hostage Kayla Mueller was repeatedly forced to have sex with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group, U.S. intelligence officials told her family…
IS top command dominated by ex-officers in Saddam’s army
By HAMZA HENDAWI and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA While attending the Iraqi army’s artillery school nearly 20 years ago, Ali Omran remembers one major well. An Islamic hard-liner, he once chided Omran…
An IS secret to success: Shock troops who fight to the death
By HAMZA HENDAWI, QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and BASSEM MROUE They are the Islamic State group’s elite shock troops. Fanatical and disciplined, they infiltrate cities of Iraq and Syria, unleash mayhem and…
US looking into whether hostage was kept by IS leader
By LOLITA C. BALDOR and KEN DILANIAN U.S. intelligence agencies are investigating the possibility that the Islamic State militant leader killed Friday was the captor of American hostage Kayla Mueller…