ISIS jihadis are slaughtering hundreds of civilians weekly

Major General Joseph Martin, commander of the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command of Operation Inherent Resolve, said: “The number of civilians murdered by ISIS on a weekly basis is in the hundreds with evidence showing that’s increasing.”
According to Gen Martin, the civilian attacks are proof ISIS is losing the fight in western Mosul, where US-backed Iraqi forces are now advancing.

He said: “As they become more desperate, their tactics become more desperate and their inhumanity increases.”

“What we are seeing in western Mosul is the continued exploitation and the expanding exploitation of the human element within the city.”

As many as half a million are estimated to remain in neighbourhoods still under ISIS control in western Mosul, according to estimates from the United Nations (UN).

Describing the situation in the war torn city, Gen Martin said the jihadis were using vehicle bombs and improvised explosive devices to attack the civilian population.

The Islamic State, he added, has also lobbed around 7,000 mortars and rockets into the liberated eastern section of the city.

His comments comes as the UN warned that Mosul is on the verge of a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said: “We could be facing a humanitarian catastrophe, perhaps the worst in the entire conflict.

“It is a deteriorating situation, we fear for the lives of the 400,000 people in the old city.

“Families. tell us that they are being shot at as they are escaping. It’s terrifying.”

She added: “If there is a siege and hundreds of thousands of people don’t have water and don’t have food, they will be at enormous risk.”

Wiping out ISIS from the Mosul would be considered a major strategic victory for coalition forces, who are also battling the terror group in its defacto capital in Raqqa, Syria.

Source: /Express