New evidence shows that when Islamic State (IS) militants took Tikrit, Iraq, in June, they executed between 560 and 770 Iraqi soldiers – triple the estimated death toll. Information from a survivor and analysis of videos and satellite imagery has confirmed the existence of five mass execution sites.
IS rebels released a video that it claims show the beheading of US journalist Steve Sotloff. The journalist was captured in Syria last year, and appeared in the video showing another US journalist, James Foley, being killed.
Credible evidence has emerged that Islamic State forces used ground-fired cluster munitions – a weapon particularly dangerous to civilians – in at least one location in northern Syria in recent weeks.
But while all eyes are on IS – a group that obsessively publicizes the atrocities it commits – it’s important to remember that Iraqi soldiers and groups aligned with the government have also committed horrible abuses, including the kidnapping and killing of Sunni civilians.
Each year, Thailand holds thousands of immigrant children in detention. They are often held in squalid, overcrowded cells, sometimes for years. Little thought is given to what they eat or their education.
Fighting around the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk has killed more than 300 civilians since May. The city and surrounding areas are subjected to daily shelling.
