ISIS militants executed 33 people, including women and children, near the city of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s western province of Anbar, a provincial security source said on Saturday. The ISIS militants captured 33 people on Friday after they took control of Albu Farraj area north of Ramadi, the source told Xinhua news agency. late on Friday, the ISIS group executed 15 people for allegedly cooperating with security forces and Government-backed Sahwa Sunni paramilitary groups, the source said, adding that the 18 other Albu Farraj residents were executed later for similar reasons.
“All the victims were shot dead with bullets in their heads,” the source said. On Friday, the ISIS militants carried out attacks on Albu Farraj area from several directions and after fierce clashes with the security forces and allied Sunni tribesmen, the group captured large parts of the area located on the northern side of the Euphrates river which separates the area from the city of Ramadi, the source said.
Friday’s battles in Albu Farraj forced dozens of families to leave their homes and go to Ramadi, which itself is partially seized by the ISIS militants, the source added. Early on Saturday, the US-led coalition aircraft carried out an airstrike against the ISIS positions in Albu Farraj area, the source said, as the area is still under control of the Sunni radical group.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi forces and allied militias, known as Hashid Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation, withdrew from the Al-Sajariyah area, just east of Ramadi, and entered the nearby Habbaniyah airbase, the source said, adding that the move was apparently to let the international coalition aircraft carry out airstrikes on the ISIS positions at the scene. The withdrawal came three days after the security forces backed by thousands of allied Shia and Sunni militias took control of Sajariyah after fierce clashes.