MP: U.S. forces freed 1200 Iraqis from Islamic State
U.S. army forces participate in combat training in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, December 22, 2016. Picture taken December 22, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) U.S. forces have freed 1200 Iraqis from Islamic State captivity, the head of an Iraqi parliament committee said Tuesday, noting that they are currently held at Muthanna province.
Alghad Press website quoted Abdul-Rahim al-Shamri, chairman of the human rights committee, saying “we have received information from Iraqis detained by Daesh(Islamic State) that they were freed by U.S. forces.
“The information we have is that the Iraqi detainees are with the U.S. forces at al-Muthanna airport”, Shamri said, noting that the committee was about to verify the reports.
“The number of detainees is 1200, including 700 chieftains, former army commanders and security personnel,” he said.
Since IS militants emerged in 2014 to proclaim an “caliphate” rule in Iraq, they faced accusations of using civilians as human shields against security forces’ offensives. They also massacred hundreds for collaborating with security troops and for attempting to flee the group’s grip.
Iraq declared IS defeated on the military level in mid November, ending a U.S.-backed campaign that resulted in the recapture of Islamic State strongholds across the country.