BAGHDAD—Iraq on Sunday executed 36 men convicted of taking part in the Daesh’s, also known as ISIS or ISIL, massacre of hundreds of soldiers in 2014, officials said. Shortly after taking Tikrit, Daesh posted graphic images of gunmen shooting the men dead after forcing them to lay face-down in a shallow ditch. The Speicher massacre sparked outrage across Iraq and partially fuelled the mobilization of Shiite militias in the fight against Daesh, a Sunni extremist group. Iraqi forces arrested dozens of men allegedly linked to the massacre after retaking Tikrit in 2015 with the help of U.S.-led airstrikes. The men executed on Sunday were sentenced to death by an Iraqi court earlier this year.

Source: thestar August 21, 2016 13:18 UTC