The sub-district of Hamam Al-Alil used to have a population 23,000, the UN reported, but there are now 60,000 people residing there.
“ISIL’s depraved, cowardly strategy is to attempt to use the presence of civilians to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations, effectively using tens of thousands of women, men and children as human shields,” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said, using an alternate acronym for the militant group.
ISIS has abducted 8,000 families from sub-districts around Mosul since the military operation began 12 days ago, the UN said, including al-Shura district where Iraqi forces reported Friday that they have launched an offensive to recapture the town.
“ISIL fighters are allegedly killing civilians who refuse to comply with ISIL's instructions or who previously belonged to the Iraqi Security Forces, including 232 civilians who were shot to death last Wednesday,” Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.
Iraqi forces have liberated over 1,000 civilians who were “detained” by ISIS militants in Aske Kalak on the Great Zab River, to the east of Mosul, the Iraqi Joint Operation Command announced on Thursday.
Colonel John Dorrian, spokesperson for the global anti-ISIS coalition, told reporters on Friday that in at least one incident, coalition forces carried out an airstrike that destroyed ISIS vehicles before they could take civilians as hostages. But he did not give further details about the location or the date.
He said this reminded him of an ISIS tactic most famously used in the Syrian city of Manbij where the militants incorporated many civilians in their military convoy.
Forced out by gunpoint, or killed if they resist, these people are reportedly being moved to strategic places where ISIL fighters are located, Shamdasani said.
One hundred and ninety former Iraqi Security Forces were killed in the al-Ghazlani military base in Mosul. They were among the 232 killed, the UN reported. The rest, who numbered 42 civilians, were killed at al-Izza military base when they refused to join the terrorist group.
