ISIS Claims Massacre of 1,700 Iraqi Soldiers

New claims circulated on the radical militant group's Twitter and social media accounts purport to detail mass graves and brutal killings, in a gruesome propaganda campaign

Aryn Baker @arynebaker
3:04 PM ET

New claims circulated on the radical militant group's Twitter and social media accounts purport to detail mass graves and brutal killings, in a gruesome propaganda campaign

In a series of tweets and shocking photos posted to their social media sites, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is boasting to have slaughtered 1,700 Iraqi soldiers in the past week as the militant Islamist group continued its blitzkrieg towards Baghdad.

The alleged massacre, as well as the body count, has not yet been verified, but if proved true it would be the single largest act of mass killing in a war that now spans Syria and Iraq. Even if exaggerated, the claims are potent propaganda designed to terrify their opponents and pre-empt resistance as the al-Qaeda inspired group consolidates control in Iraq’s Sunni areas.

It also may be designed to inflame sectarian tensions, all but demanding a response from the country’s Shiite militias in an effort to launch a sectarian war that could end up redrawing the map of the Middle East.

The photos, some 60 in all, start with rather benign images of loot — ammunition, Humvees, trucks and weapons — captured from Iraqi army bases that were abandoned by fleeing soldiers. It appears that they were taken over the past week in Salahuddin Province. Tikrit, the principal city (and former President Saddam Hussein’s hometown) was captured by ISIS on June 12.

The photos go on to show a grim slide show of men described in taunting captions as soldiers caught “trying to flee the battles in civilian clothing.” Bloodied corpses stain the ground in at least five different locations, and several of the photos document firing squads garlanded with the black ISIS flag preparing to kill scores of handcuffed men packed in shallow graves.

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http://time.com/2878718/isis-claims-massacre-of-1700-iraqis/