[dasblub]

The Islamic insurgents that captured two major cities in northern Iraq last week have claimed on Twitter to have executed 1,700 Iraqi government soldiers, supporting their claim with graphic photos.

The images appear to show the militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria loading the soldiers onto flatbed trucks before forcing them to lie face-down in a ditch with their arms tied behind their backs. The final images appear to show the lifeless bodies of the captives.

The New York Times reports that the claim of the mass execution was posted to a Twitter feed previously used for ISIS announcements, which proves intent, but that the authenticity of the photos is still in question:

The authenticity of the photographs and the insurgents' claim could not be verified, and Iraqi government officials initially cast doubt on whether such a mass execution took place. There were also no reports of large numbers of funerals in the Salahuddin Province area, where the executions were said to have been conducted.

Erin Evers, the Human Rights Watch researcher in Iraq, also expressed doubt:

"We're trying to verify the pics, and I am not convinced they are authentic. ... As far as ISIS claiming it has killed 1,700 people and publishing horrific photos to support that claim, it is unfortunately in keeping with their pattern of commission of atrocities, and obviously intended to further fuel sectarian war."

If the claim is true, it would surpass last year's chemical weapons attacks in Damascus, which killed 1,400, as the worst mass atrocity in either Syria or Iraq in recent years.

[Oswald2001]

moo slums...again. Still. (sigh)

[Warnebald]

If those were soldiers, why are there no uniforms?

[Eterion]

Originally Posted by Warnebald ↗

If those were soldiers, why are there no uniforms?

Could either be militia (non-military fighters) or soldiers in civilian plainclothes.

[DCnative]

These fucking animals make Nazis look like saints! I watched a subtitled ISIS hour long propaganda video this morning that was quite eye opening. I knew these guys were bad, but I didn't realize how completely depraved they are until this morning. The video was recorded within the past few weeks btw.

-Will

[SkepticAll]

Originally Posted by Warnebald ↗

If those were soldiers, why are there no uniforms?

Many of the soldiers stripped off their uniforms and discarded their weapons and IDs prior to the arrival of these murderous bastards. A lot of them probably just wandered around with nowhere else to go until they were either fingered by local townspeople or just shot by this scum for the fuck of it.

[JakeHarper]

Reminds me of a video from the iraqy insurgency posted on the terrorist media forums where they claimed to have captured a lot of US soldiers. The "proof" video showed approx. 20 men with their backs turned to the camera and the lights set so so you could not see their skin color or faces, wearing similar camouflage like the US troops did back then. Well, turned out it was just another desperate morale upper for the remaining fanboys they had on the internet

[Oswald2001]

People rarely call them what they truly are.

Evil.

[Bletch]

This is the reality we face if those bastards wins. But "PR" like
the evil acts in the pictures above will hardly win the hearts
and minds of the Shia dominated south and Iran.

[krassus]

Wait a minute, people claiming about authenticity of the photos. In these pics why aren't there shattered skulls and brain fragments in any of these pics? Just saying because these aren't pistol shots to the back of the head but high powered weapons are used.