ISIL (Daesh) militants have burned to death three civilians in Iraq’s violence-plagued western province of al-Anbar, in a brutal execution similar to the one carried out on a Jordanian airman.
A provincial source, requesting anonymity, said the men were killed in the town of Hit, located about 140 kilometers (85 miles) west of the capital, Baghdad, on Friday after ISIL accused them of collaborating with the Iraqi security forces, Arabic-language al-Sumaria satellite TV network reported.
The source added that ISIL members have warned locals that such a fate awaits anyone who seeks collaboration with Iraqi government forces.
On February 3, ISIL posted a video online showing the militants setting alight the Jordanian pilot, Moath al-Kasasbeh.
ISIL started its campaign in Iraq in early June 2014. The heavily-armed militants took control of Mosul before sweeping through parts of the country’s Sunni Arab heartland.
ISIL has been carrying out horrific acts of violence, including public decapitations, against all Iraqi communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.
Iraqi soldiers, police units, Kurdish forces, Shia volunteers and Sunni tribesmen have recently succeeded in driving ISIL out of some areas in Iraq.
