The Islamic State group killed at least 232 civilians near the Iraqi city of Mosul last week, according to a spokesperson for the United Nations rights office. "Last Wednesday, 232 civilians were reportedly shot to death. Of them, 190 were former Iraqi Security Forces officers," Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday, adding that the toll could be higher if the number of people killed more recently were taken into account, AFP reported.
Shamdasani also reiterated that Islamic State fighters had been forcing people out of their homes to use them as human shields against the offensive launched by government troops and Kurdish militia to retake Mosul from the terror outfit. "ISIL has been forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes in some districts around Mosul," Shamdasani said, referring to the group as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
According to the World Health Organisation and International Organisation for Migration, more than ten thousand had fled the Christian-dominated city because of the violence, The Independent reported.
On October 17, Iraqi forces, backed by a United States-led coalition and Kurdish militias, began their operation to seize Mosul back from Islamic State militants, who had captured the city in 2014. While the Iraqi Army is trying to advance on Mosul from the south, Kurdish militias are making their way towards the city from the east and north. They have taken back more than 80 villages around Iraq's second-largest city, which is the Islamic State's last stronghold in the country.
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