The extremist militant group Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS), which began an offensive in Iraq with Sunni tribes and Saddam Hussein's friends two weeks ago, is expanding its territory while consolidating its gains.
After taking two more border posts in western Iraq this weekend, an Iraqi security official has confirmed that a border post near Jordan has fallen to ISIS fighters. Consequently, the ongoing crisis has expanded to within 100 miles of two U.S. allies.
After the takeover of al-Rutba, ISIS has its eyes on Jordan and Saudi pic.twitter.com/YePFFHpw3f
- Aaron Y. Zelin (@azelin) June 22, 2014
ISIS now claims to control all Iraqi border posts with Syria and Jordan. The al-Qaeda offshoot is active in Saudi Arabia, where it seeks to destablize the kingdom and expand its archaic Islamic Caliphate.
Furthermore, given the mobilization of Shia militias in and around Baghdad, it appears that the spreading sectarian chaos will only get more intense.
REUTERS