IS militants execute 70 tribesmen in western Iraq

The Islamic State (IS) militant group executed some 70 men from an anti-IS Sunni tribe in Iraq's western province of Anbar on Monday, the tribal chief said.

"The terrorist Daesh organization (IS group) kidnapped late on Sunday night some 70 Albu Nimer tribesmen from Tharthar area in north of provincial capital city of Ramadi, and shot them dead in the same area," Shiekh Na'im al-Gaoud, the leader of Albu Nimer Sunni tribe, said in a statement distributed to Iraqi media.

All the executed were civilians whose fathers and brothers have joined the army, police and members of government-backed paramilitary Sahwa groups to fight the IS group in the town of Barwana, near Haditha, some 200 km northwest of Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Gaoud said.

Gaoud urged Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces, to rapidly liberate the province from the militant group in order to spare the lives of his tribesmen.

In November 2014, the IS executed more than 400 Albu Nimer tribesmen. Dozens more were executed early this year across Anbar province.

The executions came as Iraqi security forces and allied Hashd Shaabi paramilitary militias fought a months-long battle to retake key cities and towns in the largest province from the IS, which seized most of Anbar and tried to advance toward Baghdad. Endit