Daesh (ISIS) has executed 16 Iraqi traders who were transporting food from the city of Baiji to the government-controlled Haditha, AFP reported Sunday.
City mayor Abdelhakim al-Jughaifi told AFP the merchants were killed while they were moving goods, mostly vegetables, in the Daesh-controlled area on the Tigris 200 kilometers north of Baghdad. Haditha is the last major city in the province of Anbar still under government control.
"They were stopped at a checkpoint and abducted," Jughaifi said. "They then executed them, some by shooting them, others by slitting their throats."
Haditha tribal fighter Abu Maath al-Jughaifi said a paper was found on one of the bodies that said Daesh had avenged the deaths of its militants from a recent battle near Haditha. Government sources said at least 23 Daesh members were killed during clashes in Khasfa last week.
Haditha has been isolated in the country due to Daesh's takeover, after the militants seized the border crossing with Syria in the west and claimed territory in the east. According to AFP, residents said a bag of flour is priced at $900 compared with the typical $20-30 cost in Baghdad.
