Islamic State claims responsibility for killing civilians after paramilitary troops’ denial
Islamic State militants. File photo
Pro-IS pages had posted photos for the family before and after murdering its members.
Earlier today, Ali al-Husseini, spokesperson of the northern axis of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces), denied killing of some civilians on Baghdad-Kirkuk road, adding that the news is just to promote for Islamic State.
Speaking to Baghdad Today, Husseini said, ‘IS media promoted for fabricated news n Sunday, claiming murder of 10 civilians from Sarha and Maftool villages, east of Salahuddin on the road between Baghdad and Kirkuk to undermine victories made by the troops on Sunday in regions at the boundaries of Hawija and al-Riyad, southwest of Kirkuk.”
Troops, according to Husseini, “carried out an operation from three directions at the outskirts of Hawija and Riyad. Five rest houses were destroyed, while seven militants were killed.
He added that the murder of a civilians while on way back from Diyala took place under mysterious conditions and that circumstances are still unclear.
On Sunday evening, fifteen civilians were reportedly killed and injured as Islamic State militants set up an ambush between villages of Maftool and Sarha on the road linking between Kirkuk and Baghdad.
A total of 91 Iraqi civilians were killed and 208 others were injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in February, according to the monthly report issued by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).