ISIS executes 17 in Mosul
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants have burned a number of civilians to death for collaborating with security forces, while executing members for escaping the city, a military source said Wednesday.
DPA quoted Col. Khaled al-Jawari as saying that the group burned 20 civilians to death over charges of providing information about the group to security forces via cell phones. The execution was carried out before a watching crowd in Wadi Hajar, south of Mosul, according to the military officer.
Meanwhile, the agency also quoted locals in Mosul’s western region as saying that Islamic State executed seven of its fighters after they attempted to flee one of its secret camps in the region.
Since it occupied large areas of Iraq in 2014, Islamic State has posted videos of heinous executions of civilians, security personnel, and foreign workers over multiple charges. Some of the executions were even carried out by little children.
Since encounters with Iraqi security forces began in mid October, there have been several reports about the group executing members for fleeing battlefields and civilians for collaboration with police and army troops.
Iraqi government forces recaptured eastern Mosul on January 24th after three months of battles, and are preparing to invade the western region to consummate the liberation of Mosul which fell in IS grip in 2014.
ISIS distributes expired children's meds
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants in western Mosul have begun to give out children medicines to paint a picture of a stable life, but local sources say the drugs turned out to be expired.
A local source told Alsumaria news said IS-run clinics have begun to distribute children medicines as part of a media campaign run by the extremist group to give an impression of stability while the group braces for a major offensive by government forces.
But the group is actually handing out the medicines “though knowing they are expired,” according to the source.
Islamic State is still in control over most of western Mosul, where 750.000 civilians have been trapped under the extremist group’s bloody reign for more than two years.
Mid October, Iraqi government forces, backed by international coalition troops led by the United States, launched a major offensive to retake Mosul, IS’s largest base in Iraq. Operations since then have managed to retake the eastern section of the city, and the government says it is close to giving a green light to its troops to invade the west.
The U.S. Department of Defense said Tuesday the group has become effectively stuck in western Mosul, with no choice other than fighting to death.