ISIS slaughters nine of its own members by dunking them in burning oil trenches for attempting to flee war zone
TERROR group ISIS slaughtered nine of its own members by burning them to death in oil trenches after they attempted to flee the war zone in Mosul.
The city in northern Iraq is the group's last major stronghold in the country, and government forces working with US officials launched an offensive to free the area last week.
Nearly 90 villages and towns previously under control of ISIS have reportedly been freed in the past week, with coalition forces just three miles from the centre of Mosul in some areas.
Despite their waning hold on Iraqi land, extremists have taken control of small town Rutba while shifting their area of control, it was revealed today.
The news comes as some jihadis have started fleeing the terror group after being defeated by the Iraqi government, leading chiefs to punish their own members.
reports nine ISIS fighters who made attempts to flee the group’s stronghold were captured by their commanders.
After tying their hands and legs, chiefs threw the soldiers into trenches filled with burning oil and they were burned to death.
The terror group has resorted to burning oil trenches around Mosul in a desperate bid to stave off government forces advancing on the city.
They believe the large fires and billowing smoke compromise the vision of Iraqi and US jets carrying out strikes.
The extremists have also packed a number of the towns and villages on the outskirts of the city with IEDs and booby traps to deter enemy forces.
In addition to this, they have launched numerous surprise attacks on Iraq to distract the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces from Mosul.
Security sources claim Rutba is under ISIS control near the nation’s borders with Syria and Jordan after they expanded their territory to cover half of the town.
The Iraqi army and Sunni tribal forces reportedly remained in control of the other half at the town’s entrances from the express highway that links Baghdad and the western border.
However, the Iraqi army is believed to have paused its week-long advance on Mosul while making its way across the city’s edge and waiting for other US-backed forces to close in.
Government forces and allied Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are still paving the way towards the city’s outer limits, in what may become the biggest military operation in Iraq over a decade.
RELATED STORIES
The Mosul campaign aims to rid the Iraqi half of the ISIS self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
The Iraqi force attacking Mosul is 30,000-strong, and is combined with US special forces as well as American, French and British air cover.
The Iraqi military estimate the number of insurgents dug in the city to be between 5,000 and 6,000.
The combat ahead is likely to be more difficult and lethal because of the presence of civilians.
1.5million residents are still in the city, with worst-case forecasts presented by the United Nations (UN) predicting up to a million people could be uprooted.
UN aid agencies estimate fighting so far has forced 9,000 people to flee their homes.
Speaking on the war, UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said ISIS fighters have killed scores of people in and around Mosul in the last week alone.
Security forces are said to have found the bodies of 70 civilians in Tuloul Naser, a village south of Mosul, last Thursday.
ISIS insurgents are also reported to have killed 50 ex-police officers outside the city on Sunday, Colville said.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368.
