Islamic State War News Updates -- February 25, 2015

Stratfor: Who Controls Iraq?

Mosul has gained a certain symbolic significance in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq. Iraq's second-largest city and home to its greatest concentration of Sunni Arabs, Mosul has served as a strategically important source of manpower and finances for the Islamic State since the group seized control of it in June 2014. However, it is only one piece of the Islamic State's territory, and its loss would not be an existential blow to the group nor would it immediately end the larger fight against it.

Islamic State War News Updates -- February 25, 2015

Retaking Mosul (An Analysis) -- Stratfor
U.S.-led coalition stages 15 airstrikes against Islamic State: statement. -- Reuters
US, French carriers begin combined airstrikes against Islamic State -- Stars and Stripes
Coalition airstrikes hammer ISIS bases in Iraq, Syria -- Rudaw
Iraqi airstrikes kill 50 ISIS militants in Anbar -- NRT
Syrian Kurds cut IS supply line near Iraq; fears for Christians mount -- Reuters
Islamic State: Fears grow for abducted Syrian Christians -- BBC
Abducted Syrian Christians moved to militant stronghold -- AP
Islamic State Militants Seize Christians, Villages in Northeast Syria -- WSJ
Islamic State in Syria abducts at least 150 Christians -- Reuters
Islamic State kidnaps around 150 Assyrian Christians in Syria -- Threat Matrix
Report: Islamic State threatens 150 Christian hostages -- USA Today
Islamic State seize 100 Iraqi tribesmen before battle for Tikrit -- Reuters
ISIS Executes 3 Women, Arrests 13 Others for Refusing to Marry Fighters -- Christian Post
UN officials fear an attack on Mosul will displace 1.5 million people -- Stars and Stripes/McClatchy News
UN: Mosul operation could diplace 1.5 mln -- NRT
Islamic State is selling looted Syrian art in London to fund its fight -- Washington Post
IS Broadens Fundraising as Oil Revenue Falls -- VOA
Iraq irate at US for giving date of Mosul campaign -- Al Bawaba
Iraq Angry Over Pentagon Stating Date Of Mosul Campaign Against ISIS -- Western Journalism
On the Road to Mosul: Iraq Buys IED-Detecting Vehicles -- Defense News
Islamic State: How foreigners are helped to reach Syria and Iraq -- Erin Marie Saltman & Moli Dow, BBC
Islamic State territory: Easy to slip in, harder to get out -- Dominique Soguel, CSM
Retaking Mosul and the worst that could happen -- Ronald Tiersky, Huffington Post
The US plan to kick ISIS out of its most important city in Iraq, explained -- Zack Beauchamp, VOX
The dilemma over when to strike Mosul -- Barbara Starr, CNN
The Islamic State: The beast keeps growing -- John McLaughlin, USA Today/OZY