All are united in their determination to defend the innocent and end the atrocities being committed by ISIS. Some are civilians eager to test their mettle while searching for a greater purpose. Some are military veterans craving the familiar adrenaline rush and brotherhood of combat, who shoulder a sense of unfinished business in the Middle East.

Through the eyes of American fighters embedded with the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria, and medics supporting a coalition of local forces in Iraq, “Hunting ISIS” follows these men as they begin the difficult push to retake ISIS’ capital cities.Ĭompletely unpaid and unsupported by their governments, western volunteers have many reasons for joining the fight. Not content to sit back and watch ISIS devastate the Middle East from afar, scores of western volunteers have since traveled to region to join the fight against the terrorist group. In 2014, the world watched as they swept across Iraq and Syria, capturing wide territories and ruthlessly killing or enslaving anyone who showed signs of resistance as they declared themselves the “Islamic State.” Local forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition of western military powers began fighting back, but progress has taken years. More brutal than Al Qaeda before them, ISIS took advantage of chaos caused by Syria’s still-raging Civil War and the United States’ withdrawal from Iraq to recruit heavily in the region. The terrorist organization known as ISIS emerged as a menace in the Middle East years before most in the West took notice of their attacks abroad. A group of veteran and civilian volunteers who travel to Syria and Iraq to fight against ISIS alongside local militias in the original documentary series, “Hunting ISIS.”

Isis videos