CNN, Baghdad :
They were taken from their homes, some pulled from their beds, in the middle of the night.
They were fathers, brothers and sons, members of the U.S.-allied Albu Nimr tribe-the Sunni clan considered among the last holdouts against ISIS in Iraq’s western desert.
About 50 members of the tribe were abducted in Hit in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, during the early morning hours on Saturday, Sheikh Nabil Al-Ga’oud, a tribal leader, told CNN.
Their fate is unknown. But Al-Ga’oud and others believe they are likely dead, the latest casualties of ISIS who have killed hundreds of members of the tribe in mass executions in recent days.
The Albu Nimr, who number in the tens of thousands, are ready to fight to take back Hit, Al-Ga’oud said. The city was seized last month by ISIS fighters after weeks of fighting the tribesmen.
Hit and neighboring Ramadi were holdouts in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province after ISIS swept in from Syria, taking town after town in the western province. Albu Nimr tribesmen were among those who fought them until they began running of out weapons and supplies.
Albu Nimr has a strong force ready to attack Hit, but they need to get the final OKs from the government and also try to coordinate with the Americans, Al-Ga’oud said.
Anbar was the scene of a bloody insurgency during the U.S.-led war in Iraq until an uprising by Sunni tribes, including Albu Nimr, in 2006 took on al Qaeda in Iraq-the forerunner to ISIS, also known as ISIL.
U.S. officials maintain that Iraqi support for Sunni tribes going on the offensive against ISIS will be a necessary part in the effort to defeat the militants, who refer to themselves as the Islamic State.
They were taken from their homes, some pulled from their beds, in the middle of the night.
They were fathers, brothers and sons, members of the U.S.-allied Albu Nimr tribe-the Sunni clan considered among the last holdouts against ISIS in Iraq’s western desert.
About 50 members of the tribe were abducted in Hit in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, during the early morning hours on Saturday, Sheikh Nabil Al-Ga’oud, a tribal leader, told CNN.
Their fate is unknown. But Al-Ga’oud and others believe they are likely dead, the latest casualties of ISIS who have killed hundreds of members of the tribe in mass executions in recent days.
The Albu Nimr, who number in the tens of thousands, are ready to fight to take back Hit, Al-Ga’oud said. The city was seized last month by ISIS fighters after weeks of fighting the tribesmen.
Hit and neighboring Ramadi were holdouts in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province after ISIS swept in from Syria, taking town after town in the western province. Albu Nimr tribesmen were among those who fought them until they began running of out weapons and supplies.
Albu Nimr has a strong force ready to attack Hit, but they need to get the final OKs from the government and also try to coordinate with the Americans, Al-Ga’oud said.
Anbar was the scene of a bloody insurgency during the U.S.-led war in Iraq until an uprising by Sunni tribes, including Albu Nimr, in 2006 took on al Qaeda in Iraq-the forerunner to ISIS, also known as ISIL.
U.S. officials maintain that Iraqi support for Sunni tribes going on the offensive against ISIS will be a necessary part in the effort to defeat the militants, who refer to themselves as the Islamic State.
