ARA News 

ERBIL – Extremists of the Islamic State (ISIS) have forced a number of civilians in Mosul to take part in executing hostages from the Iraqi security forces, eyewitnesses and local activists reported.

“Islamic State’s jihadis brought five hostages from the Iraqi security forces to the Bab al-Toub square in central Mosul to execute them in public on Thursday,” media activist Abdulla al-Malla told ARA News in Mosul.

“The group then asked for volunteers from the audience to participate in the execution of the hostages, who were described by ISIS as ‘apostates’ and ‘enemies of the Caliphate’,” the source continued. “When nobody volunteered to help the militants in the execution, the group chose five men from the public and forced them to shoot the hostages in the head.”

Speaking to ARA News, head of the Nineveh media center Raafat al-Zarari said that ISIS is trying to involve innocent civilians in its brutal acts in order to support its propaganda.

“By showing civilians as partners in executing what the group considers as apostates and enemies, ISIS is actually trying to show that it still has a social incubator in Mosul and that people are supporting the group’s alleged Caliphate,” Zarari said. 

More than one million and a half of civilians are still stranded in the ISIS-held city of Mosul in Iraq’s northwestern Nineveh province, according to local activists. 

Reporting by: Sarbaz Yousef

Source: ARA News