Thousands of protesters in the Indian-administered Kashmir have rallied against atrocities committed by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq.
Holding placards and banners, the demonstrators staged a protest in Kashmir’s Srinagar after Friday prayers.
They shouted slogans against the United States and the Israeli regime, condemned ISIL militancy and expressed solidarity with the Iraqi people.
Demonstrators were angry over the mass killings of Iraqis and ISIL’s desecration of sacred Muslim sites.
“These terrorists who have threatened to bomb the shrines of Imam Hussain (PBUH) and holy sites must be put down and we all seek to stand with our Iraqi brethren in these hard times,” a protestor said.
The Kashmiris also noted that the enemies of Muslims, particularly the United States and Zionists, are trying to divide Iraq on sectarian lines, and urged unity among Iraqis.
On June 10, the ISIL militants took control of the Nineveh provincial capital Mosul, which was followed by the fall of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital Baghdad.
Over the past days, heavy clashes have been underway between Iraqi armed forces and the Takfiri militants, who have threatened to spread their acts of violence to Baghdad and other Iraqi cities.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has vowed that the country’s security forces would confront the foreign-sponsored militants.
Maliki has also blamed Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the security crisis and growing terrorism in his country, and denounced the Al Saud regime as a major supporter of global terrorism.
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