Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) – A group of Islamic State militants executed on Monday six people, including two pro-government fighters, a few hours after kidnapping them in Mosul city.

“IS militants wearing Iraqi military uniforms set up a fake checkpoint on the road linking between Ein el-Azab village in Al-Shirqat district and al-Hadar Island in southern Mosul,” Captain Abdel Khaleq al-Eifan from the Iraqi rapid response forces told Turkey’s news agency Anadolu.

The IS terrorists managed to kidnap six people, including four workers and two members of Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) after examining their IDs, Captain al-Eifan said.

The bodies of the six people were found at a desert area a few hours after the kidnapping, he said, adding that the victims were found shackled and shot in their heads and backs, meaning that they were executed by the IS militants.

Iraq declared victory over Islamic State in December with the help of a US-led alliance, having retaken all the territory captured by the extremists in 2014 and 2015.

Despite the group’s crushing defeat at its main havens across Iraq, Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks against troops with security reports warning that the militant group still poses a threat against stability in the country.







</s>Even though the battle for Mosul is over, many people are at risk of severe psychological damage, including children.

In 2014, ISIS captured Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city. This past October, Iraqi forces began offensive to retake the city. Since then, intense fighting made life unbearable for Mosul's civilians. The bloodshed caused significant displacement of people caught in the crossfire. More than 742,000 people left Mosul, according to the UN.

Access to clean water, food and medicine is still needed during the recovery process.

Click the take action button below to help those in Iraq affected by the crisis:</s>Six people, including two members of Iraq's Hashd al-Ashaeri militia, were killed Monday in an ambush carried out by the Daesh terrorist group near the city of Mosul, according to a local official.

Nurettin Kaplan, the deputy head of Mosul's local council, told Anadolu Agency that the terrorists had set up a fake security checkpoint south of the city.

According to Kaplan, the terrorists -- disguised as Iraqi security personnel -- killed the six individuals after detaining them at the checkpoint.

"Daesh terrorists are stopping vehicles passing through the checkpoints with a view to detaining and killing security personnel," he said.

He said two of those killed Monday were members of Iraq's Hashd al-Ashaeri, a Sunni-Arab fighting force affiliated with the Iraqi army.

Last December, officials in Baghdad declared that Daesh's military presence had been all but destroyed.

It appears, however, that the notorious terrorist group still maintains an active presence in parts of northern and western Iraq.</s>ERBIL: Actress Angelina Jolie, the UN refugee agency's special envoy, visited Mosul in northern Iraq on Saturday and urged the international community not to forget residents trying to rebuild their city.



Iraqi forces seized Mosul in July 2017 from Daesh extremists, who had occupied the city three years earlier and turned it into a stronghold of a “caliphate,” in a military campaign that saw 900,000 residents flee.

The Hollywood actress met families from western Mosul and walked through bombed-out streets, according to video footage and photos provided by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Normality has returned to many parts of Mosul, with displaced residents leaving camps nearby and going back home.

But the old city in West Mosul was largely destroyed during a campaign by a 100,000-strong alliance of Iraqi government units, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and other militias backed by air support from a US-led coalition.

“This is the worst devastation I have seen in all my years working with UNHCR. People here have lost everything,” Jolie said in a UN statement.

“They are destitute. They have no medicine for their children, and many have no running water or basic services,” she said. “I hope there will be a continued commitment to rebuilding and stabilizing the whole of the city. And I call on the international community not to forget Mosul.”

Jolie has worked for UNHCR since 2001, visiting uprooted civilians from Iraq to Cambodia and Kenya. It is her fifth visit to Iraq, UNHCR said.</s>A-list US celebrity Angelina Jolie, who is also a Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), has called on the international community to help the people in the war-torn Iraqi city of Mosul, which was only second to Baghdad in terms of population before the war.

The Hollywood star walked through the ruins of the destroyed Old City and talked to the local families, who were striving to survive, rebuild their homes and get back to a normal life after three years of Daesh* occupation, a nine-month siege, airstrikes which reduced neighborhoods to rubble and street-battles which pitted Islamic radicals against the Iraqi forces backed by the US-led coalition. The US actress, who was visiting Iraq for the fifth time, described the damage done to the ancient city as “the worst devastation” she had seen in all her 17 years working with UNHCR.

“There are bodies in this rubble that stay here and you can smell the bodies and some of them have family members that are here and they are unable to move them,” she said in a statement.

READ MORE: I Buried My Dear Ones in My Own House — Mosul Resident (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO)

She stressed that people there have been traumatized and lost everything; that they were left with no homes, no medicine for their children, and often with no running water or basic services, nor assistance to rebuild their homes. She called the conditions in West Mosul “appalling,” with camps near the city full and whole areas flattened.

She reprimanded the international community for the assumption that, “when the fighting is over, the work is done.”

“I recognize the great sacrifices made in the liberation of Mosul. I hope there will be a continued commitment to rebuilding and stabilizing the whole of the city. And I call on the international community not to forget Mosul and not to turn their attention away from its people,” she said, pointing out that Iraq had taught US leaders “the dangers of leaving a void.”

Her tour made international headlines and stirred up the social media, as many Twitter users shared her devastation and praised Jolie for her active compassion.

Others used her trip to take aim at Trump.

Some, however, criticized Jolie for what they considered hypocrisy…

…and slammed the US for the Iraqi interference, which led, according to them, to the destruction of the region and “appalling” consequences.

*Daesh is a terror organization, banned in Russia and many countries around the world.</s>Rome, June 20 (IANS/AKI) Italian soldiers in Iraq have helped rebuild an access road to Mosul’s biggest olive grove located close to the war-ravaged northern city’s strategic dam, the army announced on Tuesday.

The road was rebuilt at the request of local Iraqi authorities as part of a project to re-develop the area around Mosul’s 3.6 kilometre-long dam – Iraq’s biggest – which Italian firm Trevi won a contract to repair in 2016.

To rebuild the road, Italian soldiers from the ‘Praesidium’ Task Force shifted large mounds of earth used as fortifications to defend key military positions during IS’s invasion of Mosul.

The dam fell into disrepair during the Islamic State jihadist group’s seizure of Mosul in 2014 and the surrounding area was badly damaged by the protracted battle to retake Iraq’s second city from IS, which ended last year.

Before rebuilding the access road to the olive grove, the Italian soldiers cleared the area of mines and other unexploded devices, also at the request of local authorities, the army said.

‘Praesidium’ is responsible for protecting Mosul’s dam in coordination with local security forces, including Iraq’s counter-terrorism service, the national security service and the Iraqi police.

The task force also guarantees the security of military and civilian personnel attached to rhe United States Army Corps of Engineers as well as that of Trevi employees.</s>Nearly a year after Mosul in Iraq was declared "liberated" from ISIS terrorists, UNHCR envoy Angelina Jolie said, amid the "worst devastation" she has ever seen"There are bodies in this rubble that stay here and you can smell the bodies and some of them have family members that are here and they are unable to move them," the Hollywood superstar and Special Envoy for the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said, after exploring a part of Mosul that was recaptured last year with the US-led coalition's active support.Even though this was Jolie's fifth trip to Iraq, the horrific destruction she witnessed in the Old City this time really broke her heart. Walking around the narrow streets of the city center, completely destroyed by artillery and airstrikes, the 43-year-old Oscar winner called it theEver since Mosul was recaptured following massive bombardment and intensive street-to-street battles to drive out Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists,Conditions witnessed by the actress in West Mosul are simply "appalling."Displacement is still happening. The camps near the city are still full.Enabling people to return and stabilizing the city is essential for the future stability of Iraq and the region," she said, in a statement After Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the city liberated in July, 2017,Iraq's second largest.during the nine-month siege by Iraqi forces, supported by the US-led coalition.following the devastating battle against IS, money which the government simply lacks, and Western partners are reluctant to provide."I call on the international community not to forget Mosul, and not to turn their attention away from its people. We have learnt in Iraq before and elsewhere in the region the dangers of leaving a void. It is also what the families and survivors deserve," Jolie said.</s>Baku. 19 October. REPORT.AZ/ The US based consultancy Stratford released pictures of Mosul taken from satellite.

Report informs citing Haber7, the images clearly show bombarded areas and the smoke risen from tires burned by terrorists along roads.

Notably, military operation to draw terrorists from Mosul city of Iraq started on October 16.

The region was occupied by ISIS on July 10, 2014.</s>Angelina Jolie visited the devastated city of Mosul in Iraq, less than one year after its liberation from ISIS occupation.

The actress serves as a special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and met with a man and his three children on Saturday (16Jun18) who survived an airstrike in the war-torn city.

Angelina, who was on her 61st mission in her role for the UN, spoke with Mohamed, who lost his 17-year-old-old daughter after a missile destroyed his home.

"This is the worst devastation I have seen in all my years working with UNHCR,” the 43-year-old said, reports People. “People here have lost everything: their homes are destroyed. They are destitute. They have no medicine for their children, and many have no running water or basic services. They are still surrounded by bodies in the rubble.”

In photos obtained by the U.S. publication, Mohamed's two surviving daughters were seen proudly showing their school reports to Angelina, who smiled as she read them.

“The girls I met talked about the years of not being able to go to school, and of seeing people killed, and of feeling too afraid to leave their houses,” she said. “It is deeply upsetting that people who have endured unparalleled brutality have so little as they try, somehow, to rebuild the lives they once had.”

Angelina emphasised the need for recovery and reconstruction so that the people of Mosul wouldn’t be forgotten, and called on the international community "not to turn their attention away from its people".

The UN estimates that at least 40,000 homes need to be restored or rebuilt, and more than two million people have been displaced during the three-year-long conflict. Though the city was liberated from the brutal ISIS regime, fighting continues.

Saturday’s trip was Jolie’s fifth visit to Iraq since 2001, and coincided with the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan.</s>Baku. 21 October. REPORT.AZ/ "Turkey must take part in Mosul operation."

Report informs citing NTV, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said during his visit to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM).

According to the information, meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Carter lasted 30 minutes. He also had a closed-door meeting with PM Binali Yıldırım and Defense Minister Fikri Işık.

The information declares that Ashton Carter stated importance of Turkish participation in the clearing operation of Mosul province of Iraq from Daesh.

Notably, Pentagon Head paid a visit to Turkey on October 21 to discuss situation in the region.
ISIL kidnaps and executes six people in Mosul, Iraq.