IS has 100 000 human shields

– The UN said yesterday that Islamic State group jihadists may be holding more than 100 000 Iraqi civilians as human shields in the Old City of Mosul.

Iraqi forces are fighting to retake Mosul from IS after the jihadist group overran the city in 2014, imposing its brutal rule on its inhabitants.

The UN said IS had been capturing civilians in battles outside Mosul and had been forcing them into the Old City. – AFP