2 die in ISIS gunfire in Mosul
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) An infant was killed and his mother was wounded as Islamic State militants shot at families leaving the field of battles between the extremist group and government forces in southeastern Mosul.
A local source told Alsumaria News IS fighters shot at families leaving the districts of Sumer and Wahda, adding that the families had pleaded for security forces protection from the group.
Islamic State fighters have used to target civilians fleeing battles between the group and security forces which have been leading a U.S.-backed campaign since October to retake the city which the group occupied in 2014. The group has used to post videos of executions of civilians who failed to abide by its extreme religious views.
Hundred thousands of Iraqis are still stranded in the city, with militants using them as human shields, according to aid groups and news reports. Iraqi military officials have admitted that the existence of civilians had slowed down the pace of the first phase of operations which ended December 10th.
Battles in the city forced at least 160.000 Iraqis to flee homes to refugee camps. The United Nations had voiced fears that battles could displace at least one million civilians from the city.
ISIS freaks out when an Iraqi flag hoisted in Kirkuk
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) The Islamic State has raised alarm among its members on Monday to search for unknown individuals who erected an Iraqi flag in central Hawija, southeast of Kirkuk.
A local source told Alsumaria News that the erection of the Iraqi flag is understandably a provocative action for IS militants who had prohibited the possession of the flag among locals.
Earlier on Monday, a security source told Alsumaria News that four IS militants were killed in an armed ambush that targeted their vehicle while passing through the Hawija, Abbasi road
Islamic State militants have occupied Hawija, al-Riyadh, Abbasi and al-Zab, all southwest of Kirkuk, since 2014, when the group emerged to the scene to proclaim a self-styled “Islamic Caliphate”. The group’s extremist rule and abuses against civilians have forced hundreds to flee Hawija since then.
Iraqi government forces, backed by a US-led military coalition and popular militias, are currently carrying out major campaigns to liberate Iraqi cities from the militants, most notably Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and IS’s formerly-proclaimed “capital”.
Out with the old using Semtex as ISIS destroys 100 shrines in Mosul
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Representative of Sunni Endowment Diwan in Kurdistan announced on Monday, that the self-proclaimed Islamic State group destroyed nearly 100 religious places, including churches and Yazidi shrines in Nineveh Plain.
Meriwan al-Naqshabandi, Representative of Sunni Endowment Diwan in Kurdistan, said in a statement, “The Islamic State group destroyed and destructed nearly 100 religious shrines, since imposing its control on villages and cities of Iraqi Kurdistan.”
“The majority of these places belong to Christianity, Yazdanism and Yarsanism (Kaka’i),” Naqshabandi added.
Naqshabandi also declared that all crimes committed by the Islamic State are documented by the concerned committee.
He also pointed out that the committee is now documenting and following the situations of women and girls freed from the extremist group.
“The majority of cases were transferred to two IDP camps in Dohuk Province, where liberated women are psychologically and physically rehabilitated, in cooperation with global organizations,” Naqshabandi explained.
The Kurdistan Regional Government formed a committee consists of Sunni Endowment Diwan, Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs, Ministry of Interior Affairs and Ministry of Culture, in order to document crimes committed by the Islamic state in Kurdistan Region.