Desperate families flee jihadis forced out of Mosul as ISIS executes 284 men and boys held as human shields

ISIS have executed hundreds of men and boys having used them as human shields to defend against advancing coalition forces in Mosul. The terror group used a bulldozer to dump the corpses in a mass grave at the city's abandoned College of
Agriculture.

All 284 victims, including children, were said to have been shot.

Some of the 550 families taken hostage by Islamic State were able to return home while others will continue to be used as human shields by retreating jihadis.

Families have been waving the white flag in vain as terrorists round up villagers in an attempt to hold off advancing coalition forces in the battle for Mosul in Iraq. 

The country's plight is encapsulated in other incredible photos, which show children doing everyday activities such as riding bikes and playing football, but with huge flames and plumes of smoke rising up in the background after ISIS set oil fields on fire as part of their scorched earth tactics. 

An Iraqi intelligence source told CNN of the executions anonymously. 

As some Syrian civilians safely returned to their villages around Mosul after they were liberated from ISIS control, around 550 families from others have been taken hostage by the terror group.

The UN is fearful that these prisoners will effectively be used as 'human shields', with retreating jihadis having already slaughtered 284 villagers.

It comes a day after ISIS launched a series of major attacks on the city of Kirkuk, including an airstrike that killed 15 women.

Fanatics armed with assault rifles and explosive suicide vests opened up a new front in the fight for Iraq and launching an assault on government targets.

In one attack, three bombers infiltrated a power plant being built by an Iranian company near Dibis, a town about 25 miles northwest of Kirkuk. Hours earlier, a commando of suicide bombers armed with rifles attacked multiple locations in Kirkuk, an ethnically divided city 150 miles north of Baghdad, security sources said. 

It comes as the UN said yesterday it was investigating claims militants had butchered up to 40 civilians in one village near Mosul and seized hundreds of families for use as human shields.

The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, said: 'We are gravely worried by reports that (ISIS) is using civilians in and around Mosul as human shields as the Iraqi forces advance, keeping civilians close to their offices or places where fighters are located, which may result in civilian casualties.

'There is a grave danger that (ISIS) fighters will not only use such vulnerable people as human shields but may opt to kill them rather than see them liberated.' 

A Kurdish intelligence officer said four suicide bombers yesterday morning attacked the main police headquarters in the city at around 3am while witnesses said dozens of armed jihadists were seen in the streets of Kirkuk.

These assaults were aimed at diverting the authorities' attention from the battle to retake the ISIS-held Mosul.

The country's plight is encapsulated in other incredible photos, which show children doing everyday activities such as riding bikes and playing football, but with huge flames and plumes of smoke rising up in the background after ISIS set oil fields on fire as part of their scorched earth tactics.

The mayor of Dibis said the attack in his town led to clashes with security forces, who managed to kill one of the bombers before he detonated his vest. The other two blew themselves up once they were surrounded, he said. 

Several other targets in the south of the city were attacked by what the officer said were members of ISIS, sparking clashes with security forces that were still ongoing five hours later.

A Kirkuk official told AFP that a total curfew was slapped on the city. 

Local Kurdish television channel Rudaw aired footage showing black smoke rising over the city as extended bursts of automatic gunfire rang out. The TV, however, quoted Kirkuk Gov. Najmadin Karim as saying that the militants have not seized any government buildings.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The attack comes as the Iraqi government and Kurdish forces are making a major push to drive Islamic State militants from Iraq's second-largest city of Mosul.

Kirkuk is an oil-rich city that is claimed by both Iraq's central government and the country's Kurdish region. It has long been a flashpoint for tension and has been the scene of multiple attacks by ISIS.  

It comes after Iraqi soldiers raised their weapons in celebration yesterday on the outskirts of Mosul as Islamic State's hold on the city continues to crumble. 

It comes as Iraq's prime minister said the battle to seize back control of ISIS's last major stronghold in the country was going 'faster than planned'. 

Meanwhile, youths in Mosul have plastered leaflets on the homes of jihadists and threatened to rise up against them. 

Frustrated teens in the city vowed to avenge the deaths inflicted by the terrorists and covered the homes of ISIS leaders with posters, one of which said: 'Now you will live in fear of us'.

These leaflets, many of which were put up on Wednesday night, demonstrate the rising popular resistance against ISIS in Mosul. 

Iraqi special forces charged into battle with a pre-dawn advance on a nearby town held by ISIS today, a key part of a multi-pronged assault on eastern approaches to the besieged city. 

Daily Mail