The first installment of a five-part documentary by Vice News on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was released online Thursday, offering Westerners a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the terror group that now controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

For three weeks, VICE News reporter Medyan Dairieh interviewed and recorded members of ISIL in the Syrian city of Raqqa, even capturing gruesome footage of an ISIL victory over the Syrian army’s 17th division. The terrorist group overran a position held by 50 soldiers belonging to the regime of Bashar al-Assad, decapitated them and put their heads on fence posts.

“I say to America the Islamic Caliphate has been established and we will not stop,” Abu Mosa, Islamic State Press officer told Vice News. “Don’t be cowards and attack us with drones. Instead send your soldiers, the ones we humiliated in Iraq. We will humiliate them everywhere, God willing, and we will raise the flag of Allah in the White House.”

The journalist said that ISIL’s reasoning for displaying the corpses of the Syrian regime was to send a message: “The city is firmly under ISIL control, under the command of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.”

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