Nineveh’s police liberated two Christian girls from ISIS in Mousl

Nineveh’s Police leader, Brigadier General Wathiq Al-Hamdani revealed that his forces managed to liberate two Christian girls who were kidnapped by ISIS extremist group, saying that they were working as servants at Tink district in the framework of the current military operation to liberate Mousl from the grip of the extremist group. Meanwhile, War Media Cell said that ISIS committed a crime against women and children in the areas controlled by the extremists in Mousl.

Islamic State militants disguised as Iraqi police members killed welcoming civilians in western Mosul’s Old City, Iraqi military media said on Tuesday, repeating blame for the extremist group for civilian deaths during battles running in the city since October.

The Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said Islamic State members dressed as Federal Police personnel opened fire Monday at a number of civilians in the Old City who cheered their arrival. It said the deaths, which took place at areas under IS control, included children and women.

The media outlet did not specify the number of casualties or the exact location of the incident, but Iraqi generals have accused IS of using civilians as human shields and fabricating reports about security forces’ involvement in civilian casualties, Last month, the Pentagon said it was going to investigate reports that its fighter jets killed more than 200 civilians in Mosul al-Jadida district.

Iraqi government troops, backed by a U.S.-led international military coalition, recaptured eastern Mosul in January, and launched another campaign in February to retake the western region. Iraqi commanders recently claimed the recapture of 70 percent of the western region, saying IS was only controlling less than seven percent of Iraqi territory.

The police leader of Nineveh Wathiq Al-Hamdani was kidnapped by the militants from her hometown of Sinjar about three years ago, her cousin said. In the summer of 2014 militants overran northern Iraq and purged its Ezidi minority.

Seen in a video distributed by the federal police filmed on Thursday, Dakhil, wearing a light green head scarf and surrounded by numerous Iraqi officers, did not answer questions she was asked. The federal police released a statement saying Dakhil was freed during an assault by Iraqi forces in west Mosul neighborhood of al-Tenak neighborhood and that the only information she provided was her name. Dakhil's cousin was called to the police headquarters to pick her up.

Hundreds of Ezidis were killed and more than 6,000 taken captive by the ultra-hardline group, who regard the Ezidis' faith as devil-worship. Islamic State (ISIS) has hounded ethnic and religious minorities in northern Iraq since seizing the city of Mosul in June 2014, killing and displacing thousands of Christians, Shabaks and Turkmen who lived for centuries in one of the most diverse parts of the Middle East.

Proclaiming a theocratic caliphate, ISIS has tried to erase the Ezidis' identity by forcing men to choose between conversion to Islam or death, raping girls as young as nine, selling women at slave markets, and drafting boys to fight.

On the political side, Iraqi parliament voted against the answers of members of Electoral Commission, as it is scheduled to delay the session until Thursday. The parliamentarians said that they are not convinced of some of the answers mentioned by the President of the Electoral Commission during his answer to the questions addressed to him in the House of Representatives, saying that the process of questioning the head of the Electoral Commission is an interrogation of all members of the Commission.