UN: 'Islamic State' Uses Thousands as Human Shields in Mosul

The UN Human Rights Office announced on Friday, November 6, that it appears the 'Islamic State' group is using thousands of people as 'human shields' in response to the Iraqi forces' assault in and around the city of Mosul. This body has received reports indicating that over 200 individuals, who were former members of the Iraqi armed forces or police, or those who disobeyed the group's orders, have been killed in recent days. The agency adds that it has received 'credible reports' of the forced eviction of people from their homes in various neighborhoods of Mosul. According to the Associated Press, Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva, stated: 'The cowardly policy of using civilian hostages to prevent attacks on its positions, thereby employing innocent men, women, and children as human shields, is abhorrent.' She added that it has been reported that on Wednesday, 232 people and on Tuesday, 24 people were executed by this group, most of whom were former personnel of the Iraqi armed forces and police. It seems that the 'Islamic State' intends to eliminate all individuals with military experience and training to prevent any potential uprising in Mosul. Large-scale assaults by Iraqi forces to reclaim Mosul began on October 17 and continue to advance in several directions, but they are still far from the city itself. The US military, which is providing air support for this operation, stated that in recent days it has attempted to disrupt the group's actions by targeting vehicles associated with the 'Islamic State' involved in displacing people. General Matthew Isler of the US Air Force said that in these airstrikes, only vehicles carrying fighters that were distant from civilian gathering places were targeted. A few days ago, the Associated Press reported that 'Islamic State' fighters forcibly relocated residents from several villages south of Mosul into the city and apparently used them as human shields. Ahmad Bilal Harish, a resident of these villages, said on Wednesday: 'ISIS forcibly removed all of us from our homes and transported us towards Mosul. They said anyone who did not go would be an infidel.' He added that at the moment of an airstrike along the 40-kilometer route from the villages of the al-Shura area towards Mosul, which caused ISIS fighters to scatter, he and his family managed to escape. The UN and human rights organizations have warned that in the initial weeks of the Mosul liberation operation, around 200,000 people may become displaced. More than one million people still reside in Mosul. The 'Islamic State' has constructed various defensive fortifications around the city, including an extensive network of underground tunnels, landmines, and explosive traps that can slow down the movement of Iraqi forces. General Isler stated on Friday that Iraqi forces have liberated 40 villages around Mosul, but most of the battles are taking place in an agricultural area that is almost uninhabited outside the city. He added that Iraqi forces are stabilizing the positions they have captured in the east and south and emphasized that the initiative remains in the hands of the Iraqi forces. According to him, airstrikes by the international coalition against the 'Islamic State' continue and have tripled since the start of the Mosul operation. Iraqi forces have reached six kilometers from the city in the eastern front, which is commanded by special units of the Iraqi army, but progress in the southern fronts has been slower, and according to the latest reports, Iraqi forces are still 35 kilometers away from Mosul. The liberation operation of Mosul, which is the largest military battle in Iraq since the US occupation in 2003, involves about 50,000 personnel, including 25,000 from the Iraqi army, police forces, Kurdish Peshmerga, volunteers, local tribes, and Shiite militias. It is expected that the expulsion of the 'Islamic State' from Mosul will take at least several weeks and possibly months.