ISIS recruited Soviet army officers, seized 1700 bullet-proof Hummers , says Barzani

IraqiNews.com) On Saturday, president of Kurdistan Massoud Barzani revealed that, the ISIS organization has recruited retired Soviet army officers, as well as officers from the Arab armies, indicating that it also has seized 1700 American bullet-proof Hummer vehicles.

Barzani said in an interview with the British newspaper ‘Life’ followed by IraqiNews.com, “ISIS has experts from various countries of the world; they recruited retired officers of the former Soviet army, from countries like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tatarstan and Chechnya,” noting that, “It has elements from Pakistan and a large number of Iraqi army officers, in addition officers from the Arab armies that have joined its ranks lately.”

Barzani added, “ISIS has the so-called Caliphate/Immigrants Army that consists of fierce foreigners fighters,” noting that, “The majority is from Chechnya and other neighboring countries. The dead bodies they leave behind indicate the presence of multiple nationalities, and I saw bodies of Africans as well.”

Barzani stated, “ISIS elements stole weapons from the Iraqi and Syrian armies and seized some warehouses in Baiji, whose contents might require two years to transport,” pointing out that, “The terrorist group has also seized 1,700 American armored bulletproof Hummer vehicles.”

“The war against ISIS is harder than those fought by the Kurds against Saddam Hussein’s forces,” Barzani said, explaining that “ISIS is a very dangerous organization with much intolerance, expertise, money, violence and people willing to commit suicides.”