Daesh Takes 550 Families to Be Human Shields in Mosul - UN

Local Editor

Daesh [ISIS/ISIL] militants took 550 families from villages around Mosul and are holding them close to the terrorist group's locations in the Iraqi city, probably as human shields, a spokeswoman for the UN human rights office said Friday.

UN spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani, citing "corroborated information" from the area, said the office was also investigating reports that Daesh militants had killed 40 civilians in one village.

This latest intrusion comes just hours after a Daesh "sleeper cells" launched an attack on government buildings in the city that sparked clashes with security forces, and also as Iraqi forces continue their operation against Daesh stronghold of Mosul.

"It was expected that Daesh sleeper cells would make a move one day in Kirkuk now that the Mosul offensive has started and they want to boost their own morale this way," Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim told Rudaw earlier on Friday.

"Some of [the militants] have hidden themselves inside mosques and tall buildings and try to shoot as snipers, but our forces are in control and in places where escalations were feared it was all controlled. Strong forces combined of security, police, and anti-terrorism are all inside Kirkuk today," he said.

"They were sleeper cells...many women and children fled to Kirkuk as refugees and it is possible that some militants had come with them," Kiruk added, referring to the attackers.

The city's police chief and governor have called on residents to stay in their homes until the situation is under control.

The unrest has so far led to the deaths of at least 28 people - six policemen, 12 militants, and 16 power station workers, according to reports from Rudaw and AFP. The workers were killed in the nearby town of Dibis, located 55 kilometers from Kirkuk.

"Three suicide bombers attacked the power plant at around 6:00 am [03:00 UTC], killing 12 Iraqi administrators and engineers and four Iranian technicians," Dibis Mayor Abdullah Nureddin al-Salehi al-Salehi told AFP.

Kirkuk is located 174 kilometers from Mosul.

The city has accepted some 700,000 displaced people from the country's central and southern provinces since Daesh took control of one-third of Iraq in mid-2014, according to Rudaw. It had been home to about half a million people before the outbreak of hostilities.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team