ISIS weighs approach on Baghdad
The fall of Mosul into the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) is an indicator of the breakdown in the Iraqi army, and shows the necessity to unify the ranks in Iraq to fight terrorism.
![Families fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Mosul arrive at a checkpoint in outskirts of Arbil Families fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Mosul arrive at a checkpoint in outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region, June 10, 2014. Radical Sunni Muslim insurgents seized control of most of Iraq's second largest city of Mosul early on Tuesday, overrunning a military base and freeing hundreds of prisoners in a spectacular strike against the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3T260](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2014/06/RTR3T260.jpg/RTR3T260.jpg?h=c2c5b897&itok=tyFdxull)
The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham’s (ISIS) invasion of Mosul, the second-largest Iraqi city in terms of population, on June 10 did not come as a surprise, especially since the group has carried out similar operations in the past few weeks.
This indicates a change in ISIS strategy and shows its intention to spread the group’s influence through exploiting the official failure to attract the locals in the Sunni regions.