Iraqi family 'burnt alive' by Islamic State

Baghdad, May 12 (IANS/AKI) Islamic State militants burnt a family of five in northern Iraq to death after they tried to flee from a district under the control of the jihadist group, according to a news report.

The family, which included two children, had defied an order from the IS in the Riyadh district, forbidding residents to leave the area, said Syrian website Aranews.

Local witnesses claim the IS had been using residents as human shields as it has come under pressure from a US-backed military campaign.

Last month, the IS forbade dozens of Christian families from leaving its stronghold in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa after the US-led international coalition intensified its raids on IS positions in the area.

The atrocity reported in Riyadh comes after IS militants burned an 80-year-old Christian woman in northern Iraq for failing to comply with their strict interpretation of Sharia law.

The horrific punishment was carried out in the woman's village of Karamlish, 20 km southeast of Mosul, BasNews said.

IS burnt alive 45 combatants near the Ain al-Assad military base in Iraq's western al-Anbar province in February last year.

--IANS/AKI

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