Islamic State executes 40 civilians in Mosul "for treason"

PanARMENIAN.Net - Islamic State has executed 40 civilians in Mosul for "treason and collaboration", says the United Nations, according to Sky News.

The UN Human Rights office says their bodies were hung on electrical poles in the Iraqi city.

IS has also announced it has beheaded six of its own fighters for deserting the battlefield at Kokjali, near Mosul, the UN says.

Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani has catalogued a series of alleged atrocities carried out by IS, including how one of their sources pretended to be dead during a mass execution of 50 former members of the Iraqi security forces.

She also said that a mass grave in Hamman al-Alil containing over 100 bodies was one of several IS "killing grounds", with bodies dumped in various locations.

IS is reportedly stockpiling large amounts of ammonia and sulphur and placing them in civilian locations in Mosul, said Shamdasani, possibly to be used as chemical weapons.

As Iraqi forces work their way closer to the IS stronghold, public executions are being carried out, she said, sometimes for using banned mobile phones as well as for desertion or collaborating.

She said people with explosive belts, possibly teenagers or young boys, are being deployed in the alleyways of Old Mosul.

And women who have been abducted are being "distributed" to fighters or told they will be used to accompany IS convoys.