Amnesty International has issued a report claiming men dressed in Iraqi federal police uniforms tortured and killed villagers south of Mosul.
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Amnesty International has issued a report claiming men dressed in Iraqi federal police uniforms tortured and killed villagers south of Mosul.
The group says six people were shot dead. It’s alleged they were killed after being suspected of having ties to ISIL militants.
It’s the first time since the pro-government force launched its offensive against the ISIL stronghold that Iraqi forces have been implicated in alleged atrocities.
About 50,000 Iraqi security forces, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Arab militias are involved in the three-week operation to retake the city .
Meanwhile there are unverified reports of 150 decapitated corpses having been discovered in a suspected mass grave in the town of Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul.
The area was seized from ISIL by Iraqi Federal Police units last week. Many of the victims are believed to have been police officers killed by the jihadists. Others may have been villagers being held as human shields.
Hundreds of people have been displaced by the ongoing offensive and are being cared for in hastily erected refugee camps . The UN says over 34,000 people have fled in recent weeks with another 11,000 having escaped Mosul since Iraqi forces entered the city itself five days ago.