thank you very much. >>> meanwhile, isi life.the islamic state of iraq and levant now seizing more territory a iraq across iraq. is goal to create an is limb being stake, imran kahn has more from baghdad. >> reporter: sunni rebels continue their advance in the country. in the main city of boo cuba, fierce clashes between the islamic state and the levant fighters and shia militias there is connecticut fusing information coming out of ba cuba, an incident where 63 prisoners were killed. the government saying i was isil fighters. however, other sources saying that it was the shia militia. >> also more diplomat and i can political moves in the capital baghdad. they have in a key general to ahead vice them on options they have militarily. lots going on but little from the iraq military. so far no big military push in to the territory that his the sunni rebels control. >>> joining us now is jim walsh a research associate at m.i.t. security studies program, in boston, mass manslaughter this mink, before we talk about iraqu want to ask a

leadership performed a dereliction of doubt i remember nduty.the question is a lightly-armed group like isi lifele to take over a city of nearly 2 million people? this is a big prop began at that victory for isil and one that they will be keen to trumpet. however, other people are worried about any potential state of emergency. they say if the prime minister gets such sweeping powers he might find it difficult to give them up. >>> there is word some members of congress were briefed on the prisoner swap that freed army sergeant bowe bergdahl but only learned of the plan a day beforehand. congress is holding it's third closed door briefing on bergdahl. the senate armed services commit is a meeting with senior defense and intelligence officials. defense second chuck haige is due to testify tomorrow in the first public hearing in the matter. >>> we are learning more about jared and amanda miller, the young couple accused of killing two las vegas police officers and a bystander. police now say the millers were involved with white supremacists and had expressed anti-establishment views. al jazerra has

and levant don't drive to baghdad we are learning more about the leadership and fansing and why isi lifes beeisil has been able to move as quickly as it has, danea lewis joins with us more. >> reporter: isil or as many team call them isis they are well coursed. rich in funding, able to maneuver, fight, about 10,000 of them and they are capitalizing on the sunni anger and dissatisfaction with the shia government in baghdad. latest videos post on the internet by self proclaimed jihadist in iraq tell you a lot about what they are. they are ruthless, they boast of killing anyone connected to iraqi security forces. who are they? nigel is a former director of british operations and intelligence known as mi6. >> these are actually quite battle-hardened veterans who have real commitments to the jihadist cause. and you know, in effect something of a shark force. >> reporter: the fighters come from iraq, including former members of the iraqi military under sadam hussein. but they also have recruits from saudi arabia, libya, central asia, the caucuses and even canada. and the british government say

with passports is not so much the revenue generating but fighters that come in give their money to isi life it gives them access to passports to visa friendly west. >> think about that for a second. patricia, thank you. >>> a passenger plai plane as it attacked as it landed in pakistan. the government opened fire. a crew member and female passenger were injured. the plane had 178 people on board. it was arriving from saudi arabia. the attack follows a major taliban assault on an airport in scratcearlier this month. month. >>> the president of ukraine says he may revoke the ceasefire, after a helicopter was shot down killing nine service members. meanwhile, vladimir putin called for the ceasefire to be extended and talks between the government and the rebels to begin. >>> egypt's president says i he will not interfere with the courts who impressed three al jazerra journalists. they were convicted yesterday on accusations that they helped the outlawed muslim brotherhood. as erica wood reports for us now, the case has raye raised concerns about the fairness of egypt's judicial system. >> repor

isis. the prime minister welcomes that. cnn obtained video what life is like under isis in mosul.damon. >> reporter: isis is distributing much needed cooking gas to families, even selling it at a cheaper price than the iraqi government used to. in a nation where the day to day basics are a necessity for survival, acts like this do garner goodwill but isis is implementing law. prayers for all and banning women from movements outside their home without a male guardian. >> arwa joins me from baghdad and in new york, a former fbi supervisor special agent. iraqi military officials are claiming they have been able to make gains today against isis. is that for real? because they seem to make a lot of claims that are hard to actually verify. >> reporter: and that is still the case, anderson. very difficult to actually obtain accurate independent information about what is taking place on the ground. now, according to state television, according to the government, they have managed to make sole gains in takreet and air dropped special commandos into the university premises. in all they are

cnn is with iraqi troops as they try to stave off isis militants closing in on the capital. >>> life s, an exclusive look at the drastic and sometimes deadly changes the militants are bringing to the iraqi towns they have seized. what do ordinary iraqis have to do to survive. >>> rejected, iraq's prime minister shuts the door on the idea of an emergency government. was the secretary of state john kerry's mission to baghdad a foreign policy flop? we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and ornd the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> the worst fears of many appear to be coming true with the new evidence that the crisis in iraq is evolving into a broader conflict. syrian war planes carriieied oun attack killing 57 iraqi civilians. men, women and children in iraq injuring scores of others. this youtube video shows victim's bodies being removed in a town near the border on the iraqi side. cnn cannot confirm the authenticity of this video. at the same time, an official tells cnn iran is flying surveillance drones over iraq right now. amid-all this isis

isis. they actually describe life under isis as being fine.id that, yes, there were gunmen roaming the streets. they didn't know who they were. but there was running water. they were being provided with fuel. it just goes to show you what the impact of over a decade of war has done to people's psyche. they were fear of retaliation by the iraqi security forces, bombardment by them. at the same time, some people deciding to go back to mosul, not wanting to live as religions in iraqi kurdistan. saying as long as isis wasn't conducting mass executions, they would prefer to go back home. underlying all of this is the country's sunni and shiite tensions. these areas that isis has managed to take over are all predominantly sunni, and the population, although not necessarily wanting to live under an islamic caliphate, has for years now been feeling as if the predominantly shia-led government has been alienating and has also been deliberately targeting it. why has isis been able to gain so much territory in iraq so quickly? well, that may be the group

in kind of blocking or defeating the isis attacks in iraq so yes life place tricks on everybody and suddenly the u.s. which has the great enemy of tehran wants to have its friendship now and for a reason that has to do with its own strategic needs john is this a game changer of some sort sort of go ahead well i want i just want to add to that i agree with what steve was saying the one of the other things that has not been commented on much of this crisis. is the origins of isis and how isis became what it is today. it's partly of course the syrian civil war which is a complicated matter but it's also the support the financial support of the saudis the kuwaitis and qatar in particular. were funneling a lot of money from their oil revenues into the coffers of some of these most radical groups fighting the assad government and the reason that they were doing that with purely and simply because assad was an ally of iran and they have bought into the idea that they should be enemies of iran something by the way that the united states has basically encouraged for several years that is using the gu

but isis is sending out a message of its own. >> what gives you life is jihad. >> putting out a slick propag d propaganda video and calling on muslims around the world to join their so-called jihad in iraq. and for isis, bringing in more militants and weapons became easier today. they overran the qaim crossing between iraq and syria which means they now control the border. isis has its sights set on baghdad. it's small villages like this where some of the biggest battles are taking place. the only thing standing in the way of kurdish forces like these. an elite special forces unit belonging to the semiautonomous kurdistan region of iraq. patrolling highways and towns, keeping a watchful eye on isis fighters below. they know they can't win by killing the endless stream of fighters. >> their only goal in life is to get killed in the fight. >> reporter: only a political process can save iraq from breaking up says kurdistan's prime minister. >> do you believe the prime minister of iraq nuri al maliki should remain as the prime minister? >> in my view, he shouldn't stay as a prime minister

that maliki is the man to continue leading this country, and also, how concerned are they about life under isis? >> they very much feel, anderson, as if they are the victim of politics and believe that the country's leaders lack the political maturity that is necessary at this stage to actually move the nation out of this current crisis and horrific bloodshed. the christian community, remember, during the years of the iraq war fair and afterwards was consistently targeted by insure g genlgent groups on all. this town that we went to go visit is only ten minutes away from isis's positions in mosul. mosul being the first city that fell as a terrorist organization was advancing. they have begun to the christians in this town have begun to articm themselves. a lot of shops are closed either because the owners fled or not bothering to open. they are cut off for the last four days from electricity, from water and they are absolutely terrified no one is going to come to their assistance. it's heart breaking to speak to them, anderson, because so many of them will say to you, you know in the last ten y

ones on the offensive against the government right now. >> when isis takes over a city, mosul, what do they establish there? what is life like under isis? >> what isis initially did was establish a set of rules for social behavior that included some various restrictions, particularly upon women and upon praying five times a day, just very strict sharia law that one would assume would be very vigorously enforced. >> they talk about killing, cutting off hands, crucifixion. >> they live-tweeted a corporal punishment beheading, they took credit for crucifixions. >> what is isis' strategy? what is its ambition? >> they want to establish this state in a middle east where iraq and syria no longer exist. they want that to be a -- not just a safe haven for foreign fighters but in fact a place that like-minded people come to in order to live. they want to expand that with a military as far as they possibly can. and i think they want to be the thought leaders in the global jihadist revolution. >> can you negotiate with them? >> no. i do not think you can negotiate with them. i don't think that they need to negotiate. they have a m

and also, how concern ready they about life under isis?> they very much feel, anderson, as if they are the victim of politics. and they believe that the country's leaders lacked the political maturity that is necessary at this stage to actually move the nation out of this current crisis and horrific bloodshed. the christian community here, remember, during the years of iraq's sectarian warfare and even afterwards was consistently targeted by insurgent groups on all sides. and that fear is returning to them once again. this town that we went to go visit is only ten minutes away from isis' positions in mosul. mosul being the first city that fell as the terrorist organization was advancing. they have begun to, the christians in this town have begun to arm themselves. they're setting up civilian defense units. a lot of shops are closed either because the owners have fled or because they're not bothering to open. they've been cut off for the last four days from electricity, from water. and they are absolutely terrified that no one is going to c

part of an offense that ran a welcome online chat about life under isis, though with very strict rulessome questions i am allowed to answer, he says, and things i must ask my supervisor about. specific questions about religion. i have to get their permission to message anyone. i can't talk on skype. everything is written down, so they can monitor everything. he fled this city when isis murdered two relatives, was jailed when he spoke out of turn, and was rarely allowed to meet the recruits. chats could last hours. but some of the questions were strange. i remember one guy asked me for a video of a public execution, he says, but one that hadn't been put online before. strange ones, too, about marrying syrian girls. i got mad once when i was asked if someone could marry three or four girls. the motives often selfish, the goal violent, and its most radical offspring turning their sights on the west. you know, wolf, it's not having much of an effect in syria. these radicals come back to europe, and possibly the u.s., the real focus of the syrian conflict here changing. wolf? >> it's a dang

isis has been doing. in the past several days there has been marked improvements in their life. they have reduced prices on basic food commodities and fuel and subsidies. they removed a lot of check points in this city. so surprisingly the firsthand accounts from people that life has improved over the short period of time. they didn't have any immediate resentment towards isis. that's the issue we have been talking about the past several days. isis continues to expand its territory. lot of the people leaving this area, are they afraid of possible air strikes. they said, yes, absolutely. they don't want to see the u.s. carry out air strikes. they blame what's happening in the country on the government and maliki. but a very surprising revelation from some of the people that i have been speaking to that they have been disappointed with the government here the central government and would actually not necessarily reject the rule of isis for the time being. >>> back here at home, as sergeant bergdahl continues recovering after five years in captivity, a general will begin to envisit

life. jihadist fighters of the iraq and syria aka isi s shows them glee fully seizing a army base used to be a u.s. military headquarters. ironically enough made in the usa. >> iraq is fighting for its life as jihadists close in capital of baghdad less than 60 miles away they want a strict islamic state a group so brutal al qaeda distanced itself from them. today they announced they executed 1700 men iraqi solders captured nreept days. unverifiable claim but believable. >> the number of people killed in recent days may nrun hundreds. >> and that ruthlessness is why officials are concerned terror could spread and threaten americans at the u.s. embassy in baghdad. there's more than 5,000 contractors in iraq american and some exacted by their companies. president obama weary of sinking into an iraqi quagmire is considering options but no u.s. troops open the ground and has sterp message to iraqis. >> it's up to them as a sovereign nation to solve their problems. >> now the biggest worry is iraq will turn into breeding ground for terrorists and the world's oil supply. it turns out iraq is one of

isis. what are they telling you? >> well, they're telling us that life today, surprisingly, is returning a little bit back to normal. when you talk to them what about is happening on the ground. they'll tell you there has been isis fighters that have overtaken a lot of police stations. they have dissolved or completely abandoned a lot of the check points that had been set up peevely be the iraqi national army. that's one of the grievances the residents had. it had a lot of check points and restricted access and movement across the city. res debits say the check points are gone making it a little bit easier for them to move about. more importantly it seems like the fighters are trying to set up a local governing council. we have spoken to a source and they plan on imposing one individual or placing one individual to become the local governor for the time being. his job is to return the city to some kind of basic rule. as i mentioned earlier, shops are opening up. the prices of food and gas are being regulated. they want to keep prices low to win over the hearts and minds of people. they are trying to assert themselves

the world, videos present the opportunity to join in a romantic struggle, be part of a real life video game. isis made direct appeals in english to urge western muslims to join the fight. nbc can't verify this video but the speakers are identified as british citizens. >> all my brothers living in the west, i know, you feel the pest. the cure for the depression is jihad. >> here's one british man who left behind a wife and three children explaining why he joined isis. >> i don't miss a thing, you know? i really, really i felt like i was in prison in that country and i'm here. i feel free, you know? i can drive, i can, you know, i don't need a license. i don't need insurance. i don't need this and that. just to watch tv, you don't need a tv license. you don't -- all of these things, you know, you feel like you're in prison. you're being punished. here, it's freedom. totally freedom. i can walk around with an rpg if i want to. >> oddly libertarian argument for waging jihad. to their supporters and some of the people whose neighborhoods they have conquered, isis is careful to use -- trash collection

isis is sending out a message of its own. >> what gives you life is jihad. >> reporter: putting out a propaganda video showing english speaking western fighters and calling on muslims around the world to join their so-called jihad in iraq and for isis bringing in new militants and weapons became easier today. overnight they crossed between iraq and syria. now sister is has its sights set on baghdad. some of the biggest battles are taking place in these little villages. the only thing standing in the place of baghdad are kurdish force like these. an elite force, patrolling highways and towns keeping a watchful eye on isis fighters below. the kurds know they can't win by killing the endless stream of isis fighters. >> their only goal is to get killed in the fight. >> reporter: only a political process can save iraq from breaking up, says cukurdistan's prime minister. >> reporter: do you believe nuri al malaki should remain as the prime minister? >> in my view, he shouldn't stay as prime minister. >> reporter: for now, al malaki insists he will stay and retake all the territory he has lo

security interests to partner with people in iraq, and there were many who wanted a different life than isis would have. there are many shias who want to be iraqi shias, not iranian shias. i have been there enough to know. so this fateful decision to look for ways to get out totally has come back to haunt us, and we're on the verge of doing the same thing in afghanistan. i promise you the taliban would be dancing in the streets. they just do not believe in dancing, when they heard that we were leaving in 2016. can you imagine how the afghan people feel who have fought these thugs along our side, believing we would not abandon them, now to hear that we're going to pull all our troops out but a couple hundred? can you imagine how a young woman in afghanistan feels? can you imagine how people in pakistan feel, a nuclear-armed nation that could be a direct to being in the crosshairs of the people trying to take afghanistan down? but it's not just about the people in afghanistan. what about us? president obama's going back to a pre-9/11 mentality. on september 10, 2001, we had not one soldier in

withdrawal in 2011 coupled with the war in syria starting that same year gave isis its new name and lifeuddenly you see them carrying out attacks inside iraq, going into syria and other place where is they can train and recruit without any influence of any western powers. . >> reporter: they gather volunteers and weapons, spent years breaking senior leaders out of prison. but how were they able to take mosul, a city of almost 2 million? >> intimidating local security forces through bombs in their homes, by targeting key leaders for assassination, making them a softer target for the assault that would someday come which we can confirm was a very easy assault. >> reporter: then to hold mosul and other cities they have captured pure mafia tactics. >> extorting money, but there was a recent bank robbery. they have been taxing civilians to get money from civilians. >> reporter: a u.s. counterterrorism official tells us successful business owners are shaken down, threatened with death if they don't pay extortion fees. kidnappings are big moneymakers for them. this official says isis made sever

national security interests to partner with people in iraq and there were many who wanted a didn't life than isis who want to be iraqi shiias, not iranian shiias. this fateful decision to get out totally has come back to haunt us and we are on the verge of doing the same thing in afghanistan. the taliban will be dancing in the streets. they just do not believe in dancing. when they heard we wearing leaving in 2016. can you imagine how the afghan people feel who have fought along our sides believing we would not aand done them now to hear we are going to pull all our troops out but a couple hundred. can you imagine how a young woman in afghanistan feels? can you imagine how people in pakistan feel? a nuclear armed nation that could be in the cross-hairs of the people wanting to take afghanistan down. what about us? president obama is going back to a free 9/11 mentality. on september 10, 2001 we had not one soldier in afghanistan, not one dollar of aid, not even an ambassador. to those in america who think if you leave these guys alone they will leave you alone, you are not listening to what they a

national security interest to partner with people in iraq and there were many who wanted a different life than isis would have. many shia's want to be iraqiraq shia's not iranian. so the decision to look for ways to get out totally has come back it haunt us and we are on the verge of doing the same in afghanistan. the taliban would be dancing in the street, they just don't believe in dancing, when they heard we were leaving in 2016. can you imagine how the afghan people feel believing we would not abandon them that we are pulling out the troops. can you imagine how the young women in afghanistan and pakistan feel? they could be in the cross hairs of the people trying to take afghanistan down. but what about us? president obama is going back to a pre-9/11 day. those in america who think if you leave these guys alone they will leave you alone you are not listening to what they are saying and the only reason 3,000 died on september 11th and not three million is because cannot get the weapons. but if they could they would. and they are close. the taliban will regroup and the afghan army will meet a ter

are en route isis has taken to youtube to fill their rakes with some very unexpected members one being from the united states in a highly stylised recruitment video called there is no life without jihad led by abu mortada al yemeni reportedly a british citizen isis states that they have brothers joining their cause from all over the globe take a listen this is the learn of jihad and the land of the land of living we have brothers from bangladesh from come boudia. you nothing has got to except to make a lot of those with the highest we understand no borders. we have participated in battles in the show and we will go through it all in a few days and we will fight to be vanilla and come back and we will even go to jordan eleven on with no problems what about want to send this. you tube has since removed this isis recruitment video but as anything else on the internet it's out there and plenty of people have reposed of it earlier i was joined by r t correspondent sara firth from our london bureau i first asked her how effective the video has been in recruiting fighters from abroad. well absolutely in that video it's a professional piece of propaganda the can hear these brit

are en route isis has taken to you tube to fill their ranks with some unexpected places one of those being the united states in a highly stylized recruitment video called there is no life without jihad led by abu tada al yemeni reportedly a british citizen isis states that they have brothers and joining their cause from all over the globe to be beauty it has since removes isis recruitment video but has anything else on the internet it's out there and plenty of people have reposed it on earlier i was joined by. i r t correspondent sara firth from our london bureau i first asked her how effective the video has been in recruiting fighters from abroad who go on the role of the home video it's a professional piece of propaganda the can hear these british accents is filmed in syria but you can hear the fight is saying that they'll be taking the lights to iraq and now we seem this tactic from isis social media sites being this is nothing new but i think the extent to which isis has been successful with their use of the social media campaigns and with videos like this has really been what's called the attention now i think it's important to remember that all day isis is hit th

life. >>> isis could soon capture iraq's largest air base, this as they continue to storm across the country group is close to forming the world's first terrorist state. pete hegseth is here. for people at home who go isis? who are these people? how big is the force? >> the force is around 10,000, split between iraq and syria. that's important to remember. this isn't just an iraqi-based organization. it's about a 10,000 person force. islamic state. when al-qaeda was building in iraq, they were defeated in 2007 and moved to syria, now back in iraq because of the vacuum that's been created there. this is an organization that's been around for a while, but a combination of multiple organizations working together. >> under secretary of state and deputy secretary of defense says it caught us by surprise. it came out of nowhere. this is not true. what do they want? >> it's not true at all. roger said that very thing. it wasn't an intelligence failure, it's policy failure. we know who these guys are. we know they've been building. this white house has wanted to ignore what's going on in iraq. these

life from brazil. -- >> the u.s. government struggles to stem the advance of isi s fighters. >> al shabaab claim responsibility for another deadly attack in the same area as sunday's bloodshed. >> and belgium beat algeria at the world cup. are they the dark course team in brazil? we will ask our sports correspondent here in the studio. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> is iraq on the brink of wake up? sunni islamists close to the capital. >> the shia led government has dismissed several security force commanders after a week of military response to the brutal onslaught. it does not change the fact that this weeklong offensive has less -- has left the government on the back foot. >> the u.s. is sending almost 300 marines to baghdad. u.s. warships are also being repositioned. >> the west wants nouri al-maliki to reach out to sunnis to diffuse the uprising. he is refusing and the attacks and bombings are continuing, creating a new refugee crisis. >> they are safe, at least for now. refugees began streaming into this make shop -- makeshift camp in the kurdish province. there in the thousands

life. let's go "outfront." >> good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, a major for terrorist in iraq. militant fighters believed to be isis have taken control of iraq's biggest oil refinery. that is crucial. that refinery would supply the fuel that iraqi forces need to fight back. and this comes despite claims frommite rocky government that military forces were using bulldozers to block the terrorists advances. now this was the scene as iraqi forces were providing air support to keep the militant back. the latest power grab follows a move by isis to start imposing shia law. the number of cities now in the hand of terrorist continues to grow. radical sunni militant by the thousands capturing at least three more toups in ttowns in t western diz desert. short of creating in the case of syria, one extensive area of control and in jordan of course, threatening the territorial integrity of a country. this video appears to show a border crossing with jordan. i want to emphasize appears. we haven't confirmed it. confirming isis with a direct pipeline for money and weapons. american's top diplomat travelled to baghdad to press for

on the demand for credit not going to get any economic benefit in life there are groups and there are folks. iraq's crisis grows as isis militants continue to gain ground zero washington weighs its options on how to handle the iraq's worsening conflict the latest just ahead and the fighting in eastern ukraine may come to a halt a new president has proposed the ceasefire but will anti kiev fighters agree more on that coming up and it's no surprise to see a lot of add a video is on you tube but how about ads that market stolen credit cards and happening tools a look at that later in the show. it's wednesday june eighteenth four pm in washington d.c. i mean you're a david and you're watching r.t. america we begin today with the latest in iraq president obama met with top congressional leaders today to discuss ramping up u.s. involvement in the country white house officials stress that several options remain on the table and no decision has been made iraq's foreign minister says is formally ask the u.s. to launch air strikes against the militant group isis the president has reportedly for now ruled that out as an immediate

.- iraqi the average sunni has no desire to live their life under isi rules. the good news is the average iraqi wants to move forward. iraqi air force is basically granted, without american air power, it will be hard to turn the tide. .> you heard the reports the iranians say they want help. should we encourage them to help , all of all things? >> we will probably need their help to hold that back. their goal is to create a sectarian iraq. to have a puppet in baghdad, a shia dominated government where they control the outcome. our goal is to have an inclusive iraq. dealing with stalin, we will have to have some dialogue with iranians that say, let's coordinate efforts, but put a red line to the iranians. do not use the crisis to take territory from the iraqi people. put them on notice we will not iraq. them invading into europe perspective from on the iran situation. the headline -- people blame the new horrors in iraq on the american-led invasion in 2003, but the exact inson why the country is civil war today is because americans are not there. bobby is on th

isis is. some of the reports we are hearing from the ground are causing quite a bit of civilian loss of life. nse, john, of a delicate balancing act here. the reality is hammering people over the head that isis is continuing to make gains. john? >> thanks so much. >>> congress will consider a request from president obama for 500 milli$500 million to send t rebels. they want to green light the money to train and equip the opposition. it's part of an initiative to stabilize the region. >> the price suspect on the rampage in benghazi could be in the united states this weekend. kahatallah is crossing the bordr this weekend. he will eventually end up in washington for trial. >>> a little known senate procedural tactic is putting recess in jeopardy, so says the supreme court that ruled three appointments that were invalid. justice's ruled when the senate convenes, even only for a few minutes, i's not technically shut down. recess appointments aren't allowed. by that standard, the senate has been in session since 2011. >>> lawmakers heading for a firsthand look at a crisis among the mexican border. r

journalist for a french news channel offer as rare glimpse of life in the city one week after it was taken over by the al qaeda splinter group isis. the markets are opened and well stocked but masked gunmen roam the street. a long line snakes outside the isis recruiting center. here in baghdad there is also recruiting as thousands of volunteers join shiite militias. rallies like these are now a daily occurrence. these fighters told us they consider it a sacred duty to defend their city. across town markets were far quieter than usual. most people in baghdad don't believe that isis will come marching into the city, but what they fear is a surge in the number of bombings and this city already averages about eight day. this general is a spokesman for the interior ministry, the department in charge of iraq's internal security. >> i will go and celebrate our cities. >> reporter: he denies iraq is in the middle of a sec tarrian war and that volunteering for the shiite war is dangerous idea. >> when you create these shiite militias -- >> we don't have militias. >> reporter: you do. i've seen them. >> we must liberate iraq. >> reporter:

isis militants as if they were a tourist attraction. even if some of the jihadists are probably foreigners, and conflict tourists themselves. the bustle of everyday life here, shown perhaps as a deliberate contrast with the executions and atrocities of recent days. though this isis fighter is ordering a woman to cover her head up. at this checkpoint near the city, ibrahim salim told us he couldn't be sure which side in this conflict frightened him the most. were you frightened of them? because they are radical jihadists? >> it's really, you don't know who's your enemy. you don't know if the government of iraq or you don't know if that, or the jihadis is your enemy. you don't know. everybody like, in the beginning of two days, there was bombing the civilians. >> reporter: by whom? >> you don't know! just the bomb fell down on the people. >> reporter: merging into this crowd, we found soldiers from tal afar now seeking sanctuary in the kurdish north, after abandoning their posts in fighting yesterday. islamic extremists were driven out of tal afar by the american army. but the story, which seems to be emerging from these people who have fled from the co