Islamic State in Kirkuk offer Mosul women captives for sale

Hawija (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State members are offering women they captured from Mosul for sale in Kirkuk, a local source was quoted saying Saturday.

The source told Alsumaria News that the women were kidnapped from Imam Gharbi, a village in southern Mosul from where the militant group was expelled by Iraqi security forces last week. A marketplace was set up for the purpose at one of the group’s headquarters in Hawija, 55 km southwest of Kirkuk, according to the source.

The abductees were offered to IS leaders for various prices, he added.

Islamic State has held Hawija since 2014, when the group emerged to proclaim a self-styled “Caliphate” in a third of Iraq and Syria. Since then, the group, according to news and humanitarian reports, has been infamous for holding women captives, forcing them to marry group members or work as sex slaves. The group has also killed thousands of civilians for attempting to flee its domains or collaborating with security forces.

Local tribal leaders and politicians from Kirkuk have mounted pressure on the Iraqi government to hasten with invading Hawija, suggesting that its people were experiencing a humanitarian crisis under the group’s rule. Having concluded its campaign in Mosul, the Iraqi government is planning to launch further offensives at other IS pockets across Iraq, including Hawija.