UN reports more civilians forced to Mosul, possibly as
shields
2016-11-01 19:15:29.0
GENEVA, Nov. 1:(AFP) - The UN said Tuesday it had received more reports of Islamic State group fighters forcing thousands of civilians into Mosul, possibly to be used as human shields against advancing Iraqi troops.
2016-11-01 19:15:29.0
GENEVA, Nov. 1:(AFP) - The UN said Tuesday it had received more reports of Islamic State group fighters forcing thousands of civilians into Mosul, possibly to be used as human shields against advancing Iraqi troops.
The jihadists also reportedly killed another 40 former
Iraqi Security Force (ISF) members before dumping their bodies in the river, UN
rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The rights office has listed numerous IS atrocities,
including tens of thousands of forced relocations and hundreds of executions,
allegedly committed in and around Mosul since a government operation to retake
the northern city began last month.
Some of the allegations have been termed
"preliminary" and needing more investigation.
Asked about the credibility of the fresh reports,
Shamdasani said: "This is raw information. It hasn't gone through our
usual verification processes," while stressing that rights office sources
were "reliable."
In the early hours of Monday, IS fighters
"brought dozens of long trucks and mini-buses to Hamam al-Alil City, south
of Mosul, in an attempt to forcibly transfer some 25,000 civilians towards
locations in and around Mosul," the rights office said in a statement.
Most of the vehicles were prevented from reaching
Mosul because of coalition aircraft patrolling the area, the statement
added.Shamdasani said there was "a pattern" of the jihadists
surrounding their offices and bases with civilians.
"That seems to support the assertion that they
are planning to use these people as human shields as well as to make sure that
the area is heavily populated with civilians to frustrate a military operation
against them," she added.
Separately on Saturday, 40 ex-ISF officers "were
killed and their bodies thrown in the Tigris River," after being kidnapped
by IS earlier in the week, Shamdasani further said.
That brings to 296 the number of former Iraqi security
officers killed by IS since last Tuesday, according to the UN.RSS
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