UN: ISIL executes civilians en masse in Iraq

 

 

UN details series of reported ISIL abuses and warns that the armed group is stockpiling chemicals in civilian areas.

Forty people were executed by ISIL on Tuesday, their bodies hung from electricity poles, according to the UN [Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters]

ISIL fighters have reportedly shot and killed scores of civilians in Mosul in recent days, according to the UN,

which has also confirmed the discovery of a mass grave in the nearby town of Hammam al-Alil in which more than 100 bodies were found.

In a brief published on Friday detailing a series of ISIL executions and abuses,  the UN's human rights office said that 40 people were killed by the armed group on Tuesday for "treason and collaboration" with Iraqi forces and their allies closing in on the city during a major military push.

Dressed in orange jumpsuits, the bodies of the victims  were hung from electrical poles in several areas around Mosul, the UN said.

On Wednesday evening, ISIL reportedly shot to death a further 20 civilians in the Ghabat military base in northern Mosul, also on charges of leaking information.

"Their bodies were also hung at various intersections in Mosul, with notes stating: 'Decision of execution' and 'used cell phones to leak information to the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF)'," the UN said.

The rights office also said the mass grave in Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, was just one of several ISIL killing grounds.

The site was discovered on Monday and contained the bodies of at least 100 people, including former ISF officers and ISIL detainees, as well as people killed for initiating anti-ISIL attacks since the beginning of the Mosul operation four weeks ago.