ISIS bans pens and watches inside Mosul mosques
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A local source in Nineveh revealed, that the Islamic State deployed armed detachments at the gates of many mosques in some areas of Mosul, to prevent the entry of pens and watches with worshipers into mosques, Alsumaria News reported on Saturday.
The source told Alsumaria News, “Armed detachments belonging to the Islamic State were deployed before Jum’a (Friday) Prayer, at the gates of the mosques of the western side of Mosul.”
“The detachments rigorously inspected all worshipers, confiscated their pens and watches temporarily, before allowing them to enter the mosques,” the source explained.
“The Islamic State suspected that pens and watches might contain hidden cameras, after the videos recently published by the Intelligence Service about penetrating the terrorist group’s hideouts in Mosul,” the source further added.
ISIS abducts 43 for fleeing Kirkuk
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) The Islamic State abducted 43 civilians fleeing Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk, for leaving the land of caliphate, a local source told Alsumaria News in Saturday.
The source said in a statement, “Today, Islamic State’s militants abducted 43 civilians, who fled Hawija toward Kirkuk, from the area located between al-Riyad and Hamrin Mountains.”
“The abductees were taken to an unknown destination. The militants abducted the civilians for leaving the land of caliphate, as well as collaborating with other citizens, to help people leave IS-held areas toward Kirkuk and Salahuddin,” the source added.
Noteworthy, many areas in Kirkuk, including Zab, Abbasi, Riyad, Rashad and Hawija are still under the control of the Islamic state.
100s flee Palmyra as ISIS waltzes in
[ARA News] Homs –Hundreds of civilians have escaped the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra after the Islamic State’s (ISIS) militants took over the city last week.
More than 300 people have fled their homes in Palmyra over the past few days. “Most of them headed to the regime-held areas in Homs Governorate,” local media activist Abas al-Omar told ARA News.
“People of Palmyra are afraid of being used as human shields by ISIS,” the source said.
In the meantime, ISIS jihadists arrested four men in Palmyra on suspicion of helping residents escape the city.
Last Sunday, the ISIS hardline group recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra in Homs Governorate. Activists and military sources confirmed the rout, reporting that the army had been forced to withdraw under fire. The army withdrew after the clashes reached the city center and it became impossible for them to push ISIS back.
Russia had supported the Syrian Army in Palmyra, with airstrikes and logistical support but their efforts were apparently insufficient to save the city.
ISIS first took over Palmyra in May 2015, following a protracted battle with regime forces. The Islamic State’s occupation was exceptionally brutal, even by the standards of Syria’s 5-year-long conflict.
ISIS executes teen in Kirkuk for spying
[ARA News] Kirkuk – The Islamic State (ISIS) radical group has executed an Iraqi teenager in southern Kirkuk, after accusing him of spying for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, local sources reported on Saturday.
The 15-year-old boy was arrested by ISIS militants earlier on Tuesday.
“The jihadist group claimed that after interrogations the teenager confessed that he has been spying for the Kurdish Peshmergas,” a local sources told ARA News, speaking on condition of anonymity. “They executed him by firing squad.”
Also, the pro-ISIS Amaq News Agency released a video tape showing the execution of the blindfolded young man, claiming he was “a spy for the pro-Crusaders Kurdish troops”.
This comes amid intensifying clashes between the Kurdish forces and ISIS militants in the southern suburb of Kirkuk Governorate, where the radical group still holds several villages.
The ISIS hardline group has recently executed dozens of people on similar charges in Syria and Iraq.
On November 4, the Islamic State’s militants executed and crucified a woman in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor Governorate, after accusing her of spying for Kurdish forces, activists and eyewitnesses reported.
Asmaa Muhammad, 41, was arrested by the ISIS-led Islamic Police –also known as Diwan al-Hisba– in a village in Deir ez-Zor countryside under the pretext that she has communicated with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Asmaa was shot dead and then crucified in a public square in central Deir ez-Zor. Hundreds of people witnessed the brutal execution. “Her body was covered with blood when they brutally crucified her. They banned the people from approaching the body,” an eyewitness told ARA News.
On September 18, ISIS militants executed five young men in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor Governorate, after accusing them of ‘spying for enemies’. The ISIS-linked Hisba Police raided the town of al-Tarif west of Deir ez-Zor and arrested five men on suspicion of spying for rival groups.
The Sharia Court ordered the execution of the five civilians on charges of “treason” against the ISIS self-declared Caliphate. “They were accused of spying on behalf of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces,” media activist Issam al-Hamid told ARA News in Deir ez-Zor.
On October 13, ISIS extremists beheaded seven civilians in the city of Mosul, after accusing them of spying for the Iraqi Army. Local sources told ARA News that the ISIS-led Islamic Police arrested seven men earlier on Wednesday. The men were accused of leaking information about the group’s deployments in Mosul city.
“The arrested men were charged with treason, apostasy and spying for hostile troops,” local media activist Abdullah al-Malla told ARA News. “They were beheaded in front of hundreds of people in central Mosul.”
On September 22, ISIS burned six civilians to death in the city of Mosul in Iraq’s northwestern Nineveh Governorate, after accusing them of ‘spying’.
The ISIS-led Islamic Police, also known as al-Hisba, arrested six young men in Mosul city. The ISIS leadership then accused them of leaking security information about the group’s movements in Mosul to the Kurdish Peshmerga army and US-led coalition. The Sharia Court of Mosul said in a statement that after “interrogations” the suspects “confessed to have been cooperating with the Peshmerga and the crusader coalition” against the so-called Caliphate.
“The Sharia Court called for the most brutal punishment for those six young men. ISIS militants burned them to death in public on Thursday evening [Sept. 22],” local media activist Abdullah al-Malla told ARA News. “Hundreds of people witnessed the execution. Also, the victims’ families were forced to watch their sons being burned to death.”