ISIS Destroys Mosques and Shrines in Iraq: Pictures

The Islamist militant group ISIS has been destroying Iraq's Shiite mosques and religious shrines as it continues to put pressure on the country and further its extreme agenda. The AFP reported over the weekend that four shrines that commemorated Sunni Arab or Sufi figures have been destroyed, while six Shiite mosques were demolished. The destruction seems to have been limited to Iraq's northern Nineveh province, including militant-held Mosul. One local resident told Al-Arabiya that members of the group had also occupied Chaldean cathedral and the Syrian Orthodox cathedral, both in Mosul, removing their crosses and replacing them with the black flag of the Islamtic State.

ISIS or IS as they now prefer, has used anti-Shiite sentiment to rally support and tear down shrines it deems as an affront to the Koran.AP

Images posted online by ISIS show that Islamic extremists have destroyed at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques. They have seized in northern Iraq in recent weeks.AP

The ISIS extremist group has be engaged on the web and social media for weeks, documenting their endeavors and using it as a recruitment tool.AP

A man purported to be the reclusive leader of the militant Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has made what would be his first public appearance at a mosque in the center of Iraq's second city, Mosul, according to a video recording posted on the Internet on July 5, 2014. The Iraqi government denied that the video, which carried Friday's date, was credible.Reuters

Over 1,000 Iraqis who have fled fighting in and around the city of Mosul and Tal Afar wait at a Kurdish checkpoint in the hopes of entering a temporary displacement camp Khazair, in Iraq, on July 1, 2014.Spencer Platt/Getty

Families, many with small and sick children, are fleeing with no shelter and little water and food. Khazair, a displacement camp, is now home to an estimated 1,500 internally displaced persons with the number rising daily. Tens of thousands of people have fled Iraq's second largest city of Mosul after it was overrun by militants.Spencer Platt/Getty