ISIS executes 3 recruits in Anbar
Qaim (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants have executed three brothers in western Anbar for refusing to join the group, a paramilitary leader was quoted saying on Thursday.
Qatari al-Obaifi, a senior leader at the mobilization forces in Anbar’a al-Baghdadi, told Alsumaria News that the group executed the trio in the town of Qaim, its stronghold near the Syrian borders.
They were less than 15 years of age, and were executed by a firing squad after refusing compulsory recruitment.
Islamic State militants have held the towns of Anah, Rawa and Qaim, west of Anbar and near the Syrian borders, since 2014, when they occupied a third of Iraq to proclaim their self-styled “caliphate”. So far, there has not been a wide-scale campaign to retake those regions, but occasional offensives managed to take over several surrounding villages.
The Iraqi government declared victory over Islamic State in Mosul, the group’s former capital in Iraq, in July, and said it was going to proceed towards other group holdouts, including Anbar.
Also late July, Iraqi warplanes reportedly dropped millions of messages telling locals that liberation offensives for the province were nearing, and telling them to stay away from militants’ deployments.