The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group has moved its key command centers to hospitals and health centers in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province to use civilians as human shields against government airstrikes, military sources say.
Jabbar al-Mamouri, a commander of the pro-government Popular Mobilization Units, told Arabic-language al-Sumaria satellite television network on Wednesday that Daesh occupied a large part of the main hospital of Hawijah as its headquarters in the city.
The terror group has also used other health centers in nearby areas as commanding offices, he further said, adding that Takfiris used “ambulances to transfer their forces to front lines and bring ammunition from Mosul,” which has served as the de-facto capital of the terrorist group in Iraq.
Separately, a local source, requesting anonymity, said that Daesh had executed 15 people by electrocution in Mosul on Wednesday after accusing them of spying for the central government in Baghdad.
Gruesome violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since Daesh terrorists launched an offensive in June 2014, and took control of portions of the Iraqi territory.
The militants have been committing heinous crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians. The Takfiri group has suffered major blows from Iraqi forces over the past months and is increasingly losing areas under its control.