Shirqat

Writing in an encrypted chat room, Islamic State sympathizers and militants celebrated the three-year anniversary of the terrorist organization’s capture of Mosul, Iraq’s third-largest city.

Despite losing most of Mosul to the U.S.-backed international coalition, the IS supporters vowed that they would return and take control over the entire city once more.

Iraqi forces readying to retake Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) will be using artillery batteries provided by France, France President Francois Hollande said Sept. 20, as Iraqi military closed in on Sept. 21 on the center of Shirqat, a northern town held by ISIL.