Thousands of Yazidis Flee to Syria

The AP reports that thousands of members of the Yazidi sect, the religious minority targeted this week in Kurdistan by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), have fled to northeastern Syria.

Kurdish officials said that they fled “after Kurdish fighters were able to open a safe passage into Syria following clashes with ISIS. The U.S. has launched airdrops to aid thousands of Yazidis who have been trapped on a mountaintop near the Syria border for days by the militants.

“The extremists have captured hundreds of Yazidi women, according to an Iraqi official, while thousands of other civilians have fled in fear as the militants seized a string of northern Iraqi towns and villages in recent days.”

Saudi Arabia Jails Four Seeking to Fight in Syria

Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia’s Specialised Criminal Court has sentenced four men to prison for traveling to fight in Syria. The sentences range from four to 10 months.

“King Abdullah decreed in February that citizens involved in fighting overseas faced up to 20 years in prison in a bid to prevent the radicalization of young people who might then turn against their own government,” the wire says. “While the conservative Sunni Muslim kingdom has backed opposition groups battling President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Riyadh’s main regional rival Shi’ite Iran, it also regards militant groups there as a threat to its own security.”

Women Stoned to Death in Syria for Adultery

The AP also reports that women have been stoned for adultery in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, in northern Syria.

“The killings were the first of their kind in rebel-held northern Syria, where jihadists from the ISIS group have seized large swaths of territory, terrorizing residents with their strict interpretation of Islamic law, including beheadings and cutting off the hands of thieves,” the wire reports.

“None in the crowd stepped forward, said a witness to the event in a northern Syrian city. So the jihadist fighters, mostly foreign extremists, did it themselves, pelting Faddah Ahmad with stones until her body was dragged away,” it adds. “The July 18 stoning was the second in a span of 24 hours. A day earlier, 26-year-old Shamseh Abdullah was killed in a similar way in the nearby town of Tabqa by ISIS fighters. Both were accused of having sex outside marriage.”

U.S. Actions in Iraq Fueled Baghdadi’s Rise

And the New York Times profiles ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose rise, it says, was fueled by U.S. actions in Iraq.

“At every turn, Mr. Baghdadi’s rise has been shaped by the United States’ involvement in Iraq — most of the political changes that fueled his fight, or led to his promotion, were born directly from some American action,” it writes. “And now he has forced a new chapter of that intervention, after ISIS’ military successes and brutal massacres of minorities in its advance prompted President Obama to order airstrikes in Iraq.

“Mr. Baghdadi has seemed to revel in the fight, promising that ISIS would soon be in ‘direct confrontation” with the United States. Still, when he first latched on to Al Qaeda, in the early years of the American occupation, it was not as a fighter, but rather as a religious figure. He has since declared himself caliph of the Islamic world, and pressed a violent campaign to root out religious minorities, like Shiites and Yazidis, that has brought condemnation even from Qaeda leaders.”

Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team

TIME: Hillary Clinton Criticizes Obama on Syria

WSJ:Islamic State Thrives from its Syrian Base

AP: Syria President Reappoints Prime Minister amid War