Camp Speicher massacre
2014 CE.
Shown on the map at 34.602°, 43.683°.
The Camp Speicher massacre was the mass killing of around 1,700 unarmed, Shia cadets of the Iraqi Armed Forces by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), on 12 June 2014. It occurred in Tikrit, Iraq, which is near the cadets' military base, Camp Speicher. It was the second-deadliest terrorist attack in history, behind the September 11 attacks in 2001. In 2013, ISIL was founded by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and soon established an area of control in war-torn Syria. They then expanded their territory in Syria and Iraq, killing many captives who were members of opposing militaries. These executions were often recorded on video for IS' propaganda operations on social media, which were effective in recruiting new members. In Iraq, ISIL targeted members of the Iraqi government led by prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. ISIL launched a full-scale invasion of Iraq on 4 June 2014, and captured between 5,000 and 10,000 unarmed Iraqi cadets around Camp Speicher. Of those who were massacred, many of their executions were recorded for propaganda videos. The Iraqi government took back territory from ISIL over the course of the 2013–2017 war in Iraq.
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