Islamic State executes members over refusal to carry out suicide attacks in Salahuddin

A senior leader of the pro-government paramilitary troops has said that Islamic State militants executed some of its members in Salahuddin province for refusing to carry out suicide attacks.

“We have confirmed news that IS executed some members recently in Mutaibija, Salahuddin, for refusing to carry out suicide attacks,” Jabbar al-Maamouri, of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) told AlSumaria News on Monday.

The militant group, according to Maamouri, “suffers shortage of local and foreign suicide attackers. It attempted urging some of its fighters to get involved in suicide attacks. As the fighters refused, the group had to execute some of them.”

In December, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced full liberation of Iraqi lands, declaring end of war against IS members.

Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, have been fighting since October 2016 to retake territories Islamic State had occupied. Since then, forces took back the group’s former capital, Mosul, the town of Tal Afar, Kirkuk’s Hawija, and Anbar’s Annah, Rawa and Qaim.

The war against IS has so far displaced at least five million people. Thousands of others fled toward neighboring countries including Syria, Turkey and other European countries, since IS emerged to proclaim its self-styled “caliphate”.

Source: Iraqi News