ISIS orders more executions around Mosul, stockpiles chemicals

  • 12/11/2016
An explosion in Mosul (Reuters / File)
An explosion in Mosul (Reuters / File)

Islamic State fighters have executed scores more people around Mosul and are reportedly stockpiling ammonia and sulphur in civilian areas, possibly for use as chemical weapons.

A mass grave with more than 100 bodies found in the town of Hammam al-Alil on Tuesday  was one of several Islamic State killing grounds.

Mass grave of decapitated bodies found near Mosul http://www.newshub.co.nz/world/mass-grave-of-decapitated-bodies-found-near-mosul-2016110806

Reports suggest the victims included former internal security forces staff and Islamic State detainees as well as people who organised uprisings against ISIS in the time since the Iraqi army began its offensive on Mosul.

The United Nations says the corpses are in various states of decomposition which indicates ISIS had been using the site as a killing ground for some time.

Public executions were being carried out for "treason and collaboration" with Iraqi forces trying to recapture the city, or for the use of banned mobile phones or desertion.

The UN high commissioner for human rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has called on the Iraqi Government to retake Mosul and restore law and order.

"Stories of women being 'redistributed' among ISIL fighters, of killings for possession of SIM cards… the extent of civilian suffering in Mosul and other ISIL-occupied areas in Iraq is numbing and intolerable,"

"The Government of Iraq must act quickly to restore effective law enforcement in areas retaken from ISIL to ensure that captured fighters and their perceived supporters are dealt with according to the law. This is crucial to limit the opportunity for revenge attacks and collective punishments," he said.

It is also believed people with explosive belts, possibly teenagers or young boys, were being deployed in the alleys of Old Mosul, while abducted women were being "distributed" to fighters or told they would be used to accompany Islamic State convoys.

Chemical weapons are also being used by the Islamic extremist group on civillians.

On October 23, four people died after inhaling fumes from burning sulphur near Mosul. A sulphur gas factory was set on fire and shelled by ISIS.

The UN has received reports that large quantities of ammonia and sulphur have been stockpiled by ISIS and there are reports that these chemicals are being placed in the same locations as civilians.

Reuters / Newshub.