IS abducts 295 near Mosul: UN

Islamic State fighters forced thousands of civilians to retreat with them from Hamam al-Alil as Iraqi police were recapturing the town, and moved them towards Mosul airport, the UN said yesterday.

Iraqi forces retook the key town from the jihadists on Monday, in a major win in its offensive to wrest back the nearby city of Mosul.

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But the IS fighters did not leave the town alone: UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva the agency had received reports that the jihadists "forcibly moved about 1,500 families from Hamam al-Alil town to Mosul airport" on November 4.

The UN has for weeks warned that IS was forcing civilians living in districts around Mosul into Iraq's second city, hoping to use them as human shields in an upcoming battle.

Shamdasani also said the rights office had received information that the jihadists had "abducted at least 295 former Iraqi Security Forces personnel" from areas around Mosul.

"Between November 1-4, 195 former ISF personnel were reportedly abducted in several villages in Tel Afar, and at around midnight on November 3, at least 100 former ISF officers were abducted from Mawaly Village, about 20 kilometres west of Mosul," she said.

"The fate of all of these civilians is unknown for the moment," she said.

When the Iraqi forces recaptured Hamam al-Alil, they said they found a mass grave at an agricultural college, with the offensive's Joint Operations Command saying "100 bodies of citizens with their heads cut off" had been uncovered.

The UN could not immediately confirm the information, and Shamdasani said her office was still looking into reports last month that IS had killed 50 former Iraqi police officers at the same location.

Iraqi forces have been tightening the noose around Mosul since launching the offensive on October 17, with elite troops last week breaching city limits.

Meanwhile, The US-led coalition has carried out a series of air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria to aid a new offensive by armed groups toward the city of Raqqa, the militant group's de facto capital in Syria, the Pentagon said on Monday.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the targets of the air strikes included Islamic State fighting positions and vehicles, including some that could be used to deliver explosives.

The US-led coalition that launched operations against IS two years ago is providing crucial backing to both offensives, with air strikes and special forces advisers on the ground.

SDF forces have been pushing south from areas near the Turkish border towards Raqa, and alliance spokeswoman Jihan Sheikh Ahmed said yesterday they had moved to within 36 kilometres (22 miles) of the city.

"Two more villages have been taken since yesterday," she told AFP, adding that SDF forces had so far advanced 14 kilometres (nine miles) closer to Raqa from Ain Issa, the main staging point for the operation.

"The fighting continues; morale is good and our fighters are determined that this offensive will succeed," she said.

Like in the battle for Mosul, the goal of the Raqa offensive is to surround and isolate the jihadists inside the city, before eventually mounting a street-to-street assault.

In both cases officials are warning of long and bloody battles ahead, with jihadist forces expected to put up a fierce fight and use trapped civilians as human shields.