ISIS as militants seize border crossings, four more towns and now surround national grid dam Sunday June 22,2014

Militants capture two border posts, one border town and three other towns in new blitz through west of   country

Strategic gains bring Sunni extremists closer to achieving goal of creating an Islamic state across Syria and Iraq

Insurgents 'trying to take control' of dam which powers electrical grid and could cause major flooding if destroyed

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's security spokesman said Monday 'hundreds' of soldiers had been killed since the insurgents, led by the powerful jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), launched their offensive on June 9,2014
It came as Sunni militants have blitzed through the vast desert of western Iraq, capturing four towns and two border crossings and deepening the predicament of the Shi'ite-led government.
The latest military victories - including two border posts captured yesterday, one along the frontier with Jordan and the other with Syria - considerably expanded territory under control by ISIS just two weeks after the Al Qaeda-inspired group began swallowing up chunks of northern Iraq.
The lightning offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) takes the group closer to its dream of carving out an Islamic state straddling both Syria and Iraq.
Moreover, controlling the borders with Syria will help it supply fellow fighters there with weaponry looted from Iraqi warehouses, significantly reinforcing its ability to battle beleaguered Syrian government forces.
The insurgents are also reportedly trying to take control a dam near the city of Haditha, the destruction of which would damage the country's electrical grid and cause major flooding.

ISIS 'RECRUITING CHILDREN FOR SUICIDE BOMBINGS'

ISIS militants are recruiting children for roles ranging from soldiers and snipers to stretcher bearers and suicide bombers, according to a disturbing report.
Human Rights Watch said rebel groups across the ideological spectrum have employed children in the civil war in Syria.
Military and police forces in Kurdish-controlled areas have also used teenagers, it said.
'Syrian armed groups shouldn't prey on vulnerable children — who have seen their relatives killed, schools shelled and communities destroyed — by enlisting them in their forces,' said Priyanka Motaparthy, the author of the 31-page report.
'The horrors of Syria's armed conflict are only made worse by throwing children into the front lines.'
Human Rights Watch said the extremist Nusra Front and the Islamic State have both targeted children as young as 15 through education programs, which include military training. 
Human Rights Watch, which said the number of children fighting in the conflict is unknown, based its report on interviews with 25 children and former child soldiers in Syria.

'BRING FORWARD UNMARRIED WOMEN TO PLEASE THEIR BROTHERS': ISIS 'ORDERS RAPE IN CAPTURED CITIES'

ISIS are imposing a terrifying regime of rape against women in captured Iraqi territories, it was alleged today.
A letter, pictured right, circulating online purporting to be from the Sunni militants demands that families hand over women to 'fulfill their duty of pleasing their brothers, the Mujahideen'.
It is not known who wrote the letter, but it is consistent with previous comments by the extremist group.
According to a translation by Weasel Zippers, the letter says: 'In the name of Allah the mercyful.
'Now that the liberation of the Nineveh province by the Mujahideen is a fact, the Mujahideen feel the warm welcoming by their brothers and sisters in the province of Nineveh. 
'Following the defeat of the sectarian army, god willing, we vow that this province will remain safe and protected by the Mujahideen.
'Therefore, we ask all the people of this province to bring forward unmarried women so they fulfill their duty of pleasing their brothers, the Mujahideen. 
'Who ever fails to comply, shall face consequences imposed by the sharia law.'

NO SMOKING, NO WOMEN OUTSIDE AND 'UNBELIEVERS' MUST REPENT: ISIS IMPOSES STRICT SHARIA LAW IN CAPTURED TERRITORIES

In the swathe of seized regions across northern Iraq, ISIS has declared hardline Sharia law, publishing the following set of strict rules:

• Drugs, cigarettes or alcohol banned
• People have tried secular rule - now it is time for an Islamic state
• Women should wear loose-fitting clothes and leave home only when necessary
• Shrines and graves should be destroyed
• Only flag allowed to be carried is the ISIS one
• Places have been opened for police and soldiers of the 'unbelievers' to repent
• Tribal leaders must not become traitors by working with the government
• All Muslims to pray at the mosque at the correct time
• Money we have stolen from the government is for the public. Only the imam of mosques can spend it - thieves will have their hands cut off
• We are the soldiers of Islam and we have taken on the responsibility of re-establishing the caliphate

ON THE WARPATH: A TIMELINE OF EVENTS SINCE ISIS LAUNCHED ITS LIGHTNING OFFENSIVE TWO WEEKS AGO

 June 10: Hundreds of jihadists, led by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), seize Iraq's second biggest city Mosul and swathes of Nineveh province. They also overrun parts of the nearby Kirkuk and Salaheddin provinces.
- Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says civilians will get weapons to fight the militants.
June 11: The insurgents seize Tikrit, Salaheddin's provincial capital, but security forces repel an assault on Samarra.
- ISIS storms the Turkish consulate in Mosul, kidnaps the head of the mission and 48 others, after earlier seizing 31 Turkish truck drivers.
June 12: Kurdish forces take over Kirkuk to protect the oil hub from jihadists. Iraqi Kurds want to make Kirkuk part of their autonomous region.
- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani promises Maliki Iran's full support.
June 13: Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani urges Iraqis to take up arms against the militants.
- UN human rights chief Navi Pillay cites reports of extrajudicial killings and summary executions.
June 14: Shiite Iran mulls working with the United States, its long-time foe, if Washington takes the lead in helping to repel the militants.
- The US says the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush is steaming into the Gulf.
- Security forces retake Ishaqi, north of Baghdad, say they found the burned bodies of 12 policemen.
June 15: An Iraqi air strike targets Kurdish forces in eastern Iraq, killing six fighters. Unclear if an accident or not.
- Kurdish forces control the Rabia border crossing with Syria, a senior official says.
June 16: Militants and security forces battle for Tal Afar, a strategic Shi'ite town in north Iraq.
- US President Barack Obama says 275 troops are going to help protect the embassy in Baghdad, their first deployment since US forces withdrew from Iraq.
June 17: Militants attack the central city of Baquba, the bodies of 18 soldiers and police are found near Samarra.
- Maliki fires top security commanders.
June 18: Rouhani says Iran would do whatever it takes to protect Shiite Muslim holy sites in Iraq.
- Militants attack the country's biggest oil refinery at Baiji,s parking clashes that left dozens dead. Iraqi officials say the Islamist assault was eventually repelled.
June 19: The battle for Baiji oil refinery is seen from space in NASA satellite image as fierce fighting continues
- Obama announces he is sending up to 300 military advisers to Iraq to train forces
June 20: The UN Secretary General has warned that possible airstrikes against ISIS fighters in Iraq could be ineffective and backfire as jihadist militants trap Iraqi troops inside the Baiji oil refinery
June 21: Insurgents take control of al-Qaim, a key strategic point on the eastern frontier with Syria
- Thousands of armed Shi'ite militiamen parade through Baghdad in a display of strength
June 22: Four more key Iraqi towns - Qaim, Rawah, Anah and Rutba - fall to ISIS