As Territory Shrinks, ISIS Draws Inspiration From George Peppard and Joins the Crossover Craze

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

If there’s one thing shared by members of ISIS and the Western world, it’s an appreciation for the utility and versatility of high-value crossovers. Yes, even militant, fundamentalist killers have a myriad of needs requiring the likes of a Hyundai Tucson or Kia Sorento.

As Iraqi forces continue their push into territory previously seized by members of the Islamic State, visual evidence has emerged of the desperate tactics employed by the retreating fighters. Perhaps the most surprising are a plethora of Korean crossovers outfitted for battle.

Just minutes ago, those forces declared a symbolic victory over ISIS, retaking the landmark (and ruined) Great Mosque of al-Nuri in the city of Mosul, once home to two million residents. The eradication of ISIS in Mosul threatens to leave the terrorist group without a stronghold. Already, funding has all but dried up.

Apparently, many of the suicide car bomb attacks planned by ISIS were foiled by the allied advance into Mosul. Left in the withdrawing fighters’ wake was a bevy of specially outfitted vehicles and a workshop where normal grocery getters transformed into A-Team-like rolling ironclads. Naturally, the Iraqis held an exhibition. (You’ll get a kick out of those pictures.)

While we’re all familiar with the beige Toyota Hilux pickups so favored by ISIS, the supply of those go-anywhere vehicles isn’t getting any larger — they’re now mostly used for launching conventional attacks, usually with a machine gun mounted in the bed. Militants with scarce resources would hardly press a Hilux into car bomb duty.

Enter the crossover. It isn’t known exactly where ISIS got its hands on so many Hyundai and Kia vehicles, but abandoned second-generation Tucsons and Sorentos seem to be everywhere. In Mosul, ISIS fighters removed exterior body panels in order to mount flat, bullet-deflecting iron panels, often adding tire-protecting fender skirts. So heavy is the makeshift armor that in many cases the crossovers bear a striking resemblance to a Civil War gunboat or WWI armored car. (Or, in more lightly armored guise, a retro-futuristic vehicle from the Fifth Element.)

A Kia representative, speaking to Business Insider, claims the vehicles at its two Mosul dealerships were removed before ISIS overran the city in 2014. This suggests ISIS stole the vehicles from civilian owners — a theory backed up by the models’ vintage. All captured Hyundai and Kia vehicles seem to date from 2012 to 2014, which jibes with the period Hyundai and its sister marque operated their Mosul dealerships.

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Kvndoom Kvndoom on Jun 29, 2017

    Damn. Before seeing those pics, I thought the Road Warrior was fiction.

  • Big Al from Oz Big Al from Oz on Jun 30, 2017

    I'm thinking a couple of things here. 1. Da'esh have little money. 2. The clamp down on Hiluxes and other light commercials is finally impacting Da'esh. One thing. These Sorentoes don't like the heat here in this part of the world. We are siezing Sorento (EBs)engines from idling too long. As I also stated Ford's EBs don't like the heat either.

    • JohnTaurus JohnTaurus on Jun 30, 2017

      ISIS + Hyundai/Kia CUVs = F-150 sux. Okay, just checking.

  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
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