Iraqi troops slow Mosul advance to secure areas

BAGHDAD — Iraqi troops fired at positions held by the Islamic State group in and around the northern city of Mosul on Thursday but did not advance as they regrouped and cleared neighborhoods once occupied by the extremists, military officials said.

Troops are screening residents fleeing from Mosul, searching for any IS militants trying to sneak out among the more than 34,000 civilians fleeing to displacement camps in nearby provinces.

Amnesty International reported allegations against security forces of arbitrary detention, forced disappearances and illtreatment of prisoners, including an account that up to six people were “extrajudicially executed” in late October over suspected ties to ISIS.

The London-based rights organization said the alleged killings took place near the area of Shura and Qayara outside Mosul, and it urged the government to investigate.

“Men in Federal Police uniform have carried out multiple unlawful killings, apprehending and then deliberately killing in cold blood residents in villages south of Mosul,” said Lynn Maalouf, deputy director for research at Amnesty’s Beirut office.

“In some cases the residents were tortured before they were shot dead execution-style,” she said, adding that it was “crucial” for Iraqi authorities to bring those responsible to justice.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi denied the report, calling it “incorrect information” and saying in a statement that ISIS fighters were the ones responsible for the killing of civilians.

State-sanctioned Shiite militias and Kurdish forces say they won’t enter the city, and the government has vowed to investigate any human rights violations and hold people accountable.

In late October, an Iraqi manning a checkpoint south of Mosul with soldiers, Federal Police and local militiamen told The Associated Press that he personally killed two men he said he knew to be ISIS militants because he saw them commit crimes.

The AP could not independently confirm his account.

A group of soldiers at the checkpoint also told AP they had heard reports of suspected ISIS fighters being beaten and killed by security forces. One private said the alleged abuses were supposedly carried out by local tribal and militia fighters in apparent revenge attacks.