ISIS militants carried out, on Thursday, a campaign of executions and arrests against Iraqi civilians in Anbar (western Iraq), while tribal leaders criticized slow freeing of cities and towns that are still under the control of ISIS, while the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said that intense battles between Iraqi security forces and ISIS fighters in Mosul are causing increasing numbers of displaced people, with 4,000 civilians fleeing the city.
A source in Anbar police said, on Thursday, that the elements of the terrorist organization arrested more than 20 Iraqis during a crackdown was executed in the western Anbar town of Anah, stressing, that militants of the organization have executed two prisoners in a public square in front of a gathering of residents of the town.
The source pointed out that the charges against those who were executed and detainees ranged from communicating with Iraqi forces, and joining the secret tribal anti-ISIS forces, saying that some of those who were arrested were affiliated with the army and police before they declared "repentance" after the control of the ISIS militants on the western regions of Anbar in mid-2014.
The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said that intense battles between Iraqi security forces and ISIS fighters in Mosul are causing increasing numbers of displaced people, with 4,000 civilians fleeing the city.
More than 28,000 people have been forced from their homes since a coalition of US-backed Iraqi forces launched an offensive on February 19 to retake the western sector of Mosul, ISIS's last major urban stronghold in Iraq, the UN said.
The Iraqi ministry of migration and displacement put the number at 31,000.
Overall, the total number displaced since the battle for Mosul started in October exceeds 176,000, according to the UN.
Iraqi troops close on government buildings in west Mosul
Some of the displaced were moving from areas already under Iraqi military control, afraid of the ongoing fighting and eager to move to safety. Others escaped across the front line, waiting until they saw Iraqi forces in the distance and running towards them with white flags.