Fighting erupted on June 20 between ISIS militants and the Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order [6] in Hawija, Kirkuk [7] governorate (also rendered Tamim). AFP [8] calls it "a potential sign of the fraying of the Sunni insurgent alliance that has overrun vast stretches of territory north of Baghdad in less than two weeks." The Naqshbandi fighters, known by their Arabic acronym JRTN, had apparently refused an ISIS demand to give up their weapons and pledge allegiance to the Qaedist force. AFP cited analysts to the effect that ISIS is actually struggling to maintain control over a broad alliance of Sunni and even Ba'athist militants who were brought together to oppose Nouri al-Maliki's sectarian rule but do not share the Qaedist ideology. Toby Dodge, head of the Middle East Centre [9] at the London School of Economics, said the "radical" and "ludicrously absurd" politics of ISIS "can't help but break that coalition."
