Iraqi soldiers' families storm parliament

By Dustin M Braden - 02 Sep '14 15:38PM

The families of Iraqi soldiers who have been taken hostage by the terrorists of the Islamic State have stormed the Iraqi Parliament demanding news of their captive loved ones.

Reuters reports that more than 100 people barged into the Iraqi Parliament brandishing sticks and metal bars. The crowd ransacked the building and assaulted staff members that they mistook for parliamentarians.

Al Jazeera reports that the people were related to soldiers that had been taken captive near the city of Tikrit. The families were at the parliament to address lawmakers.

The address never happened after the crowd began to violently demonstrate outside the parliament before eventually storming the facility.

Riot police equipped with armor and batons were dispatched with water cannons to try and control the unruly crowd, according to Al Jazeera.

Tikrit is the hometown of Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq. Tikrit has been the scene of fierce fighting between the Iraqi Army and Shiite militias that are aligned with the Iraqi government. The Iraqi military has recently launched a number of failed offensives to retake control of the city.

Reuters says that Iraqi Special Forces were also called to the scene to remove the enraged demonstrators. They were eventually convinced to end their protest and leave the premises after they were told that the parliament would hold a special session on their missing family members on Wednesday, Sept. 3.

Al Jazeera noted that some of the protesters were injured before the crisis was resolved.

If the soldiers were captured by the Islamic State, it is unlikely they will ever make it back home to their families again.

A key component of the Islamic State's glitzy and disturbing digital propaganda campaign is the dissemination of their cruel and vicious acts on the Internet. These acts include the mass executions of soldiers fighting on behalf of both the Syrian and Iraqi governments. IS has posted numerous videos of soldiers stripped of clothing, lined up, and shot in cold blood.