26 more slain in fresh Daesh atrocities against Iraqi civilians
More than two dozen Iraqi civilians have lost their lives and scores of others sustained injuries as members of the Takfiri Daesh militant group continue perpetrating crimes against humanity in various parts of the conflict-stricken Arab country.
A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 12 civilians were killed and 35 others injured on Thursday, when Daesh militants fired a barrage of mortar shells at a gathering of refugee families in al-Asmida area north of the oil-rich city of Baiji, located some 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of the capital Baghdad.
The source noted that the victims had fled clashes in the city of Shirqat, located some 300 kilometers (190 miles) north of Baghdad, and the surrounding regions.
The roads through which refugee families flee are dangerous as Daesh extremists have placed improvised explosive devices along them, and several civilians have lost their lives in such roadside bombings, the security source added.
Separately, Daesh members brutally murdered 14 prisoners by locking them in a metal cage and lowering them into a swimming pool in their stronghold of Mosul.
A local source, requesting not to be named, said the executions were carried out in the city’s Faisaliyah district, and the victims had been charged with spying and collaboration with Iraqi government and Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
On August 11, Daesh extremists placed 25 local residents of the town of Hawijah, located about 282 kilometers (175 miles) north of Baghdad, inside a booby-trapped house and then detonated the building.
The development came only a few days after the Takfiris executed six people in Mosul.
The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since Daesh terrorists mounted an offensive in June 2014. The militants have been committing vicious crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.
The Iraqi army and fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units have been engaged in joint operations to retake militant-held regions.
