Islamic State executes scores, stockpiles chemicals: U.N.

[November 11, 2016]    GENEVA (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters have executed scores more people around Mosul this week and are reportedly stockpiling ammonia and sulfur in civilian areas, possibly for use as chemical weapons, U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday.

A member of Peshmerga forces carries his gun in the town of Bashiqa, after it was recaptured from the Islamic State, east of Mosul, Iraq November 10, 2016. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani

A mass grave with over 100 bodies found in the town of Hammam al-Alil was one of several Islamic State killing grounds, Shamdasani said, citing information gleaned from sources on the ground including a man who played dead during a mass execution.

Public executions were being carried out for "treason and collaboration" with Iraqi forces trying to recapture the city, or for the use of banned mobile phones or desertion.

People with explosive belts, possibly teenagers or young boys, were being deployed in the alleys of Old Mosul, while abducted women were being "distributed" to fighters or told they would be used to accompany Islamic State convoys, she said.

(This version of the story corrects a typo in the headline)

(Reporting by Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay)

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.