Tribesmen in three villages in eastern Syria have driven out Islamic State (IS) militants, in a rare display of local resistance to the group. . .

Formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), it has been accused of atrocities in areas under its control, carrying out mass executions of Shia Muslim prisoners and forcing out other non-Muslims such as Mosul's ancient Christian community. . . .

The Islamic State reportedly rushed in reinforcements from the Iraqi border town of Qaim, but were forced out of the [Syrian] villages.

Tribesmen also captured the nearby Tanak oil field, according to [the Observatory].

"There has been wide resentment recently because of Islamic State's acts," [Mr Osso] told AP news agency. . . .

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28622809


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I have been waiting with some hopeful expectations for "the Sunni dog to shake off the ISIS flea". That was my conjecture of what could very likely happen. I was talking about Iraq, where many of the local Sunni who had previously cooperated with the U.S. and the U.S.-backed Iraqi government have thrown in with the Islamic State, because (in my estimation) they were totally fed up with the way that they have been treated by the Iraqi government led by Nouri al-Maliki.

So rest assured, I have my eagle-like media eye tracking this story, and I will be the first to let you know if I see any signs of this seemingly positive development going even larger and crossing over from Syria into Iraq.

On the other hand, the Islamic State has just been reported to have ousted Kurdish Peshmerga (militiamen) from Zumar, in Iraq, taking control of a nearby oil field.

This brief report also serves as a very readable overview of the general situation in Iraq, and how that is reverberating in other Arab countries :

http://www.reuters.com/arti...dUSKBN0G20FU20140803

quote Originally posted by rinselberg: I have been waiting with some hopeful expectations for "the Sunni dog to shake off the ISIS flea". That was my conjecture of what could very likely happen. I was talking about Iraq, where many of the local Sunni who had previously cooperated with the U.S. and the U.S.-backed Iraqi government have thrown in with the Islamic State, because (in my estimation) they were totally fed up with the way that they have been treated by the Iraqi government led by Nouri al-Maliki. So rest assured, I have my eagle-like media eye tracking this story, and I will be the first to let you know if I see any signs of this seemingly positive development going even larger and crossing over from Syria into Iraq.

Not a whole lotta shakin going on.

I suspect the generators will be shut down as soon as the ISIS troops figure out how to do it--assuming of course they don't just open the gates or blow it and flood major cities. The Kurdish or Peshmerga commander that lost control of the dam is of the opinion that ISIS has people skilled enough to do either and will use water as a weapon.