(AhlulBayt News Agency) - ISIS terrorists have abducted 295 former Iraqi Security Force (ISF) members from around Mosul and forced 1,500 families to retreat with them back to the militant stronghold, the United Nations human rights organisation says.
"People forcibly moved or abducted, it appears, are either intended to be used as human shields or — depending on their perceived affiliations — killed," said Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The abductions reportedly took place last week as Iraqi forces pushed an offensive to recapture Mosul from ISIS terrorists.
About 100 of the former ISF officers were taken at around midnight on November 3 from Mawaly village, which is about 20 kilometres west of Mosul, while a further 195 were abducted between November 1 and November 4 from villages in Tal Afar district.
The abducted families were being taken from their town to Mosul airport, Ms Shamdasani said.
"The fate of these civilians is unknown for the moment," she told a UN briefing in Geneva.
The United Nations also had information that at least 30 sheikhs were abducted in Sinjar district in early November and taken to an unknown location — it was trying to verify a report that 18 of them had been killed on November 4 in Tal Afar district, Ms Shamdasani said.
The operation against ISIS' Iraqi stronghold has entered its fourth week.
The UN human rights office has sources on the ground but the information they are able to provide is "patchy", Ms Shamdasani said.
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8 November 2016 - 14:18
News ID: 790608
ISIS terrorists have abducted 295 former Iraqi Security Force (ISF) members from around Mosul and forced 1,500 families to retreat with them back to the militant stronghold, the United Nations human rights organisation says.
