The UN refugee agency said that ISIS terrorists have captured up to 3,000 Iraqis fleeing villages in the northern district of Kirkuk on Thursday.
They UNHCR also reported that 12 of them of them had been executed while in captivity.
Press TV reports:
BYPASS THE CENSORS
Sign up to get unfiltered news delivered straight to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe any time. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use
The report followed a statement on Thursday from the Iraqi Observatory for Human rights, which said about 1,900 civilians had been captured by an estimated 100-120 Daesh militants.
The observatory said Daesh was using people as shields against attacks by Iraqi security forces, adding scores of civilians had been executed, and six burnt.
The report said the Takfiri group had captured the internally displaced people from villages in Hawijah District in Kirkuk Governorate trying to flee to Kirkuk city.
“Reportedly, 12 of the IDPs have been killed in captivity,” the UNHCR report said.
The Iraqi army and allied volunteer forces are preparing for a final push to dislodge Daesh from Mosul – the Takfiri group’s last major city in Iraq.
The UN has appealed for about $2 billion of donations to deal with the aftermath of the Mosul assault but has received nothing so far.
The likely capture of thousands of Iraqis came as Izadis marked this week the second anniversary of what investigators have termed a genocide by Daesh against the Iraqi minority group.
On Wednesday, the United Nations said thousands of Izadis are being held captive by Daesh in Syria where many are used for sexual slavery or forced to fight for the Takfiri group.
According to the UN, around 3,200 Yazidi women and girls are being held captive, and thousands of men and boys are missing.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday condemned “the heinous crimes that continue to be committed by ISIL (Daesh) against the diverse ethnic and religious communities of Iraq.”
He also expressed deep concern “about the safety of the people who remain in ISIL’s captivity,” calling upon all those engaged in the fight against Daesh to make their release a prime objective in their military operations.
The US has been deploying additional troops to Iraq in anticipation of the assault on Mosul.
The plan has raised questions, with some critics citing Washington’s failure to react when Daesh was overrunning Iraqi cities one after another.
