The conflict in Iraq is usually depicted as exclusively involving the Shiite government and Sunni armed groups. However, this stereotype is shattered when observing the situation of Sunnis in areas controlled by the Islamic State (IS).

One quarter of Mosul’s residents have fled the Sunni-dominated city. Moreover, hundreds of Sunnis were killed by IS. Considering this, the conflict can be seen in a different way, since these practices are equally carried out in the Syrian and Iraqi areas controlled by IS.

In the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, adjacent to the Iraqi border, the organization has killed in the past two weeks more than 700 individuals belonging to a Sunni tribe, the majority of whom were civilians. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced that 17 fighters of other Sunni opposition factions were beheaded at the hands of IS in the village of Akhtarin, which fell under the control of the organization.

In Iraq, the Sunni town of Haditha in Anbar has been fighting off the successive attacks of IS for more than a month. A source in the city told Al-Monitor by phone: “The residents of Haditha are moderate and do not agree with the terrorist doctrine of IS. They are sacrificing all they have to preserve their cities from the monsters of this organization.”