civilians and fighters in Iraqi war zone
civilians and fighters in Iraqi war zoneצילום: רויטרס

The UN Human Rights Commission described a number of the atrocities being perpetrated by ISIS operatives during the course of the Mosul offensive in the past week. For example, three women and three young girls were shot to death because one disabled girl could not maintain the pace of a group of villagers who had been evacuated from the place they were in by the terrorists.

UN officials claim this is just one of a number of cases of civilian executions by ISIS in the past week. Civilians were also used as human shields against the attacks of the Iraqi army and the Kurds. 70 other dead civilians were discovered with gunshot wounds, as well as 50 policemen.

In the village of Sapina, 45 kilometers south of Mosul, 15 civilians were shot dead and their bodies thrown into a river. Other civilians related to one of the Kurdish commanders were tied to a vehicle and dragged through the streets of an ISIS-controlled village.

Last week it was reported that ISIS had executed 284 men, women and children and thrown their bodies into mass graves. An anonymous source from the Iraqi army said that all victims had been shot to death.

The UN also claims to be "very concerned" about reports that ISIS took 550 families from villages near Mosul to serve as human shields against the Iraqis and Kurds.