Islamic State fighters have taken “tens of thousands” of people hostage and are herding them towards the city of Mosul for use as human shields as the battle for the militant group’s last major Iraqi stronghold intensifies, the United Nations has said. Speaking at a news conference, UN spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the hostage-taking was aimed at making certain parts of Mosul “immune from military action”. “Isil’s depraved, cowardly strategy is to try to use the presence of civilian hostages to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military action, essentially using tens of thousands of men, women and children as human shields,” Shamdasani said, using a different term for the group. They are scared.” Former members of the security forces among the new arrivals have been taken away by Isis, he added, and their current location is unknown. Shamdasani said it was vital that Isis killings did not draw security forces into a spiral of violence.

Source: The Guardian October 28, 2016 10:21 UTC