Iraqi forces find IS members hidden among refugees fleeing west Mosul

A FEW hundred men who had scurried across front lines in a refugee exodus from Mosul sat in rows before an Iraqi intelligence officer who scanned the crowd for hidden militants.

The officer pulled a teenager onto a raised platform and asked the group if he belonged to Islamic State (IS). Muffled groans were followed by nods and muttered comments.

The youth was dragged off to a pickup truck and his arms tied behind his back. He confessed to a three-month membership in IS, but said he had been a cook and never carried a weapon.

As growing numbers of residents flee fighting between insurgents and Iraqi military forces seeking to recapture the Is-held western half Mosul, security units have been transporting civilians to government-run camps and weeding out IS infiltrators.

Just over a week into the offensive, some 14,000 inhabitants have slipped out of the city. Most are women, children and elderly but there are also hundreds of young men who must pass screening. The officer, who spoke to Reuters, said he had extracted seven suspected Islamic State members on Sunday, the first day of mass displacement from western Mosul. Reuters saw four more in detention on Monday.

“The fighters don’t come out,” he said. Those who were loyal to the jihadist movement but played a less public, mainly noncombatant role are more likely to try to slip through the dragnet, the officer added. REUTERS

Reuters Iraqi families walk out of western Mosul on Tuesday.