DUBAI, October 8 (RIA Novosti) — The Islamic State (IS) militants are using captured civilians from the villages of northern and northeastern Iraq to stop the advance of the Iraqi military, the Iraqi TV channel Alsumaria reported on Wednesday.
"We know that the IS has driven about 30 families from the village of Sharvin to the front line in al-Mansuria region of the Diyala province. They use hostages to try to stop the advance of the military forces on one of the major IS' extremist centers in the province," an unnamed source in Iraqi security forces told Alsumaria.
According to the source, those who have managed to escape from the Sharvin village have told the military about the "horrifying facts regarding the IS persecutions of the locals and attempts to impose crazy ideas."
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), is an extremist group that has captured large parts of Syria and Iraq and proclaimed a caliphate on the territories under its control.
IS militants captured the village of Sharvin, located 25 miles away from Baakuba, the administrative center of Diyala province, two months ago. The IS has created one of their major bases in the region there which the Iraqi military has been trying to eliminate for weeks.
