Islamic State crisis: Kurds 'recapture key Kobane hill'

Tall Shair was recaptured after US-led air attacks targeting IS in and around the town of Kobane

Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State (IS) say they have recaptured a strategically important hilltop west of Kobane on Syria's border with Turkey. 

The advances were made after a series of air strikes by the US-led coalition.

The hill, Tall Shair, was captured more than 10 days ago by IS militants, who have besieged the area for a month.

Later on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama will hold talks with military chiefs from more than 20 countries on how to combat IS in Syria and Iraq.

Correspondents say the meeting in Washington is the first time such high-ranking military officials from so many countries have come together since the US-led coalition was formed last month.

Suicide bombings 

The battle for Kobane, a predominantly Kurdish town, has emerged as a major test of whether the coalition's air campaign can push back IS.

Two weeks of air strikes against IS targets in and around Kobane have allowed Kurdish fighters to slow the jihadists' advance, but Turkish and Western leaders have warned that the town is still likely to fall.

Tens of thousands of Syrians, most of the Kurds, have fled Kobane in the past month

On Tuesday morning sources in the Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) told the BBC that they had regained control of Tall Shair hill-top, about 4km (2.5 miles) to the west and near an informal border crossing.

Heavy fighting was reported in the east and south of Kobane on Monday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group, reported that IS carried out three separate suicide bomb attacks.

One fighter battling IS in Kobane: 'There is no time for sleep'

One IS suicide bomber blew up an explosives-filled vehicle in the north of the town, near the border, while the second targeted an eastern area where the main police station and government offices were located, it said. Later, a third bomber attacked a YPG position in the north-east.

The Observatory said it believed IS now controlled about half of Kobane.

Capturing the town, from which more than 160,000 people have fled, would give the group unbroken control of a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border.

Iraq 'reprisals' 

Hundreds of kilometres away in western Iraq, as many as 180,000 people have been displaced by fighting between IS militants and Iraqi forces in and around the city of Hit, according to the UN.

IS, which controls large swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq, captured Hit earlier this month in an advance across Anbar province.

Analysts say seizing Anbar would enable IS to establish a supply line to launch possible attacks on the capital, Baghdad.

Meanwhile, a report by campaign group Amnesty International said Shia militias in Iraq had kidnapped and killed scores of Sunni civilians in recent months in apparent revenge for IS attacks.

It said scores of unidentified bodies have been found in the cities of Baghdad, Samarra and Kirkuk, many still handcuffed and with gunshot wounds to the head, suggesting execution-style killings. Many others who disappeared remain unaccounted for, it added.

Shia militias have been at the forefront of the fight against IS in Iraq

Amnesty says the militias have taken advantage of an "atmosphere of lawlessness" but the Iraqi government "must act now to rein in the militias and establish the rule of law".

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who took office last month, has admitted to previous "excesses" by government forces and vowed to govern for all Iraqis.

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Iraqi Kurds call for better weapons against Islamic State

An unfinished hospital in Rabia bore the brunt of coalition air strikes against Islamic State, but Kurds say these strikes have been invaluable

"It would have taken us much, much longer to take this back, if it hadn't been for the air strikes," said the Peshmerga commander as he picked his way through a sea of rubble and debris.

He was at the unfinished hospital building in Rabia where militants of the Islamic State (IS) held out for three days against Kurdish forces as they battled to regain the strategic border town last week.

Rabia controls the main highway linking the two biggest cities of the northern Arab world, Mosul in northern Iraq and Aleppo in Syria, at the point where it crosses the border between the two countries.

The hospital building where IS fighters made their stand was devastated by the fighting. It had never been commissioned as a hospital, and will need to be completely rebuilt before it is.

A Kurdish fighter looks at the ruined interior of the hospital, which needs to be completely rebuilt

While the basic structure is still standing, huge blast-holes show where missiles or bombs from coalition air strikes penetrated the building, blowing out much of the interior.

This was where the British RAF staged its first air strikes in Iraq in the current conflict, after conducting many reconnaissance flights.

Still sprawled in the chaotic debris are the gruesome remains of several IS militants who died there, their corpses left to rot in the rubble after a desultory attempt to cremate them by pouring fuel over them and setting them alight.

The battle for the hospital building illustrated the effectiveness of air strikes which, the Kurds say, sped up their operation and probably enabled them to avoid taking heavier casualties themselves.

But the limitations of Western coalition support for the Kurds were highlighted by events just 10km (six miles) away to the east, on the highway that leads to IS-held Tal Afar and Mosul.

Iraqi arms 

On the day that Rabia fell, the Kurds say an earthworks barricade they erected on the road to prevent IS bringing up reinforcements came under attack from no fewer than seven suicide vehicle bombs.

General Shaikh Omar Babkai, who fought against Saddam Hussein, was one of many Peshmerga fighters to die as the result of an Islamic State bomb

Several of the attacks were foiled when Peshmerga fighters shot and killed bombers in civilian cars before they could set off their charges.

But a tanker truck with an armoured cab defied everything the Kurds had to throw at it.

It crashed into the barricade, hitting one of the unexploded car bombs and setting off a blast which devastated several Peshmerga vehicles.

Among the 10 members of the Peshmerga's elite special forces who died in the explosion was one of its commanders, General Shaikh Omar Babkai, who we had filmed just two weeks earlier on a visit to the front by the Kurdistan president, Masoud Barzani.

After the death of Gen Babkai, a veteran Peshmerga who was wounded five times over the years in battles with Saddam Hussein's forces, we drove to his home village, Mamola, in the mountainous far north of the country near the Turkish border, where we spoke to his brother Samad.

Like Gen Babkai and many other men in the area, Samad is also a Peshmerga officer. Gen Babkai's only son, Mir Khan, who is 17, is preparing to join the Peshmergas when he finishes his studies.

General Babkai's son Mir Khan said he wants to follow in his father's footsteps and join the fight against Islamic State

"We are proud of his martyrdom in this way, and we are ready to offer more sacrifices to protect and liberate Kurdistan," Samad said.

"But there is a deficiency in the arms we have. If they'd had more advanced weapons there, my brother would not have been killed, and the enemy would have been smashed much more quickly.

"Only the Peshmerga are seriously fighting IS," he added. "If we had the kind of arms the Iraqi army was given, we'd have destroyed the terrorists long ago."

Defying death 

 In Mazne, a nearby village in this Kurdish heartland, the point was echoed by one of the survivors of the suicide attacks at Rabia.

The small village of Mazne in Iraqi Kurdistan has lost several people to the ongoing conflict

Nabih Hassan was with three other Peshmergas, all from the same family in Mazne, who were in one of the vehicles destroyed in the bomb blast.

Badly wounded, he was the only one of the four who lived.

"If we'd had more sophisticated weapons, such as anti-armour missiles, we could have blown up the tanker while it was still far away, before it could get to us," he said.

One of the Mazne Peshmergas who died in the same vehicle was Ziro Hassan, who was manning an anti-aircraft "doshka" weapon used as a machine gun.

"He is not the first martyr we have given, nor will he be the last," said his brother Majid Hassan, also a Peshmerga general.

Such words, repeated by all the bereaved, are not empty rhetoric.

"Since 1961, our family has given 39 martyrs," he said. "We are ready to sacrifice to the last drop of our blood to preserve Kurdistan."

While the Kurdish readiness to fight and die for their country is well established - "Peshmerga" means, roughly, "those who defy death" - the IS cult of embracing "martyrdom" by committing suicide on the battlefield is something else.

Suicide belts
 
We saw evidence of it at the same front-line position east of Rabia where the multiple vehicle bomb attacks were mounted.

Three days later, the IS militants launched a frontal attack on the Peshmerga defence line by around 100 fighters, many of them strapped up with suicide belts.

Nabih Hassan is one of the luckier Peshmerga fighters after he survived a suicide bomb attack

But the Kurds were ready. The maize and sunflower plantations on the plain in front of them were turned into a killing field. The Peshmerga said many of the attackers exploded as they were hit by gunfire.

We found at least 20 IS corpses scattered in the dirt. One was still wearing a suicide device, its detonator clearly visible. All that was left of another, whose explosives had gone off, was his head and upper chest.

"They are ready to die, they love death, and it's hard to stop an enemy if they want to die," said Masrour Barzani, head of security and intelligence in Iraqi Kurdistan.

"This is the enemy we are facing - they love to kill, they love to die, and unfortunately, they have access to the weapons they need to fight with.

"The problem is that right now the kind of support and armament that we are getting is not to the level where it can help the Peshmergas fight this enemy, especially when they have these armoured vehicles.

"We have not asked for any ground forces. Our Peshmergas are here, they are giving their lives, and all we need from the rest of the world is to help us with effective weapons to protect these people who are actually fighting on its behalf, fighting these terrorists who have come from all over the world."

Future planning

Kurdish leaders say that, in addition to armour-piercing weapons which would stop suicide bombers and other armoured IS attacks, they believe that a qualitative upgrade to tanks and helicopters would give them a much better chance of defeating the militants.

In the fields of Rabia, a suicide belt detonator is found still attached to a fighter from Islamic State

They admit that such weapons would require extensive training, which would take time.

"But if we don't start now, we won't have them next year, when this war will still be going on and we will need them," said one senior official.

"It's going to be a very tough fight, and we're going to lose people," added Mr Barzani.

"We are not getting what we need. Air strikes are very effective, we're grateful for them and we hope that they could continue and be expanded, but definitely there is much more to be done, especially on the ground."

So far, most of the arms supplied to the Kurds since the current crisis began have been restricted to light weaponry and ammunition, though Britain has delivered 40 heavy machine guns and the Germans are training the Peshmerga on Milan anti-tank rockets.

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Iraq violence: Baghdad car bombs kill dozens

There was a heavy security presence in the Iraqi capital on Saturday

Three car bombs have exploded in mainly Shia Muslim areas of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, killing at least 38 people, as fighting continues in the north.

Many other people were injured by the three blasts. It is not known who carried out the attacks.

At least 14 people died in violence elsewhere in Iraq on Saturday.

The advance of Islamic State (IS) militants and their Sunni Muslim allies has increased tension between the country's Shia and Sunni communities.

A suicide car bomb exploded at a security checkpoint in the northern Kadhimiya area of the capital, killing at least 11 people, officials say.

Two more deadly attacks took place in the Shula neighbourhood of north-west Baghdad.

In other incidents on Saturday

• Four injured soldiers were killed when their ambulance was attacked in a "friendly fire" incident near Baquba. Police say Shia militia volunteers opened fire on their ambulance, thinking it was being used by IS fighters to attack their position

• A suicide bomber killed at least seven people in a market in Meshahda, near Baghdad

• US and other aircraft from the international coalition carried out air strikes on IS targets inside Iraq as well as dropping supplies to Iraqi government forces at Baiji, where Iraq's biggest oil refinery is located

IS militants have taken control of large sections of northern and western Iraq in recent months.

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ISIS– Largest, Richest $2Billion Terror-Based Enterprise: Financial Sophistication Rivaling Wall Street

ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ) is the world’s largest, richest terrorist organizations, ever. It’s a self-sustaining enterprise that runs mainly on extortion and crime networks, hostages, oil, donations…

According to Martin Chulov; ISIS has grown from a ragtag band of extremists to perhaps the most cash-rich and capable terror group in the world with a $2 billion jihadist network. The scale of ISIS resources is unprecedented: A terrorist organization while ruthless, but still able to occupy large areas of territory, quickly…

For example; it controls several major cities in Iraq, which it occupied in just three days, it holds parts of several other cities and continues to menace still other cities throughout Iraq and Syria: It’s quite an accomplishment…

According to Michael Knights; some estimates of ISIS’s wealth are overstated, for example; the $2 billion estimate that’s been floating around is too high, but that’s not to say ISIS isn’t raking in a fair amount of cash– between $2 million and $4 million per day…

ISIS is a wealthy terrorist movement or better yet an effective financial enterprise, which it run very much like a large-scale Mafia type protection rackets business across much of Iraq.

This group has fashioned a small army out of a mix of foreign and local fighters, established oil refining and trafficking operations, and even collects taxes….

Despite longstanding rumors that ISIS has foreign patrons in Gulf States such as; Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, there is little evidence that it ever depended on foreign largess…

While there may be some foreign money flowing to ISIS, stopping these transnational flows will not stymie the group. Whatever its international influences, ISIS raises most of its money from the territories it feeds off of, making the problem of beating back the group exceedingly difficult…

According to Howard J. Shatz; ISIS raises much of its money just as a well-organized criminal gang would: It smuggles, it extorts, it skims, it fences, it kidnaps and it shakes down. Although supposedly religiously inspired, its actions are more like those of an organized criminal cult…

To quote a U.S. mobster; you don’t get ahead just by being thugs but at some point you must also learn to be a racketeer as well…

ISIS’ most important revenue source is the smuggling of oil from the oil fields it controls in Syria and Iraq. It has been reported to control about a dozen oil fields along with several refineries. Estimates of revenue vary, but a range of $1 million to more than $2 million a day is reasonable…

ISIS is a formidable fund-raiser. To its disadvantage, the group is also a formidable spender. It pays regular salaries to members based on family size and even has promised to maintain those payments if the member is killed or captured…

It also pays rent for some members and medical expenses, maintains safe-houses and buys weapons and other equipment. As cash-based organization, it also has to guard against internal corruption, which is documented in the group’s own records…

Historically, ISIS’ main outside revenue has come in small donations from local and foreign supporters… And while donations from the Gulf countries may have been welcome additions, neutralizing donations from wealthy Gulf sources will have little effect on their activities…

 In the article Who finances ISIS? by Andreas Becker writes: ISIS is recognized as the richest terrorist organization in the world, ever…

Iraqi officials estimate that the group now has about $2 billion in its war chest. What remains controversial is where bulk of its money comes from… Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government accuses Saudi Arabia of supporting the ISIS jihadis…

According to Charles Lister; there is no publicly accessible proof that governments of any state has been involved in the creation or financing of ISIS as an organisation…

Others take a different view. According to Günter Meyer; the most important source of ISIS financing to date has been support coming out of the Gulf states, primarily Saudi Arabia but also Qatar, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates…

Additional key financing sources are the oil fields of northern Syria: ISIS was able to get the oil fields under their control, where they use trucks to bring oil across the border into Turkey– oil is an important source of funding for them…

According to Charles Lister; ISIS is largely able to fund itself, and it has established local networks in their occupied territories that generate a continuing flow of money, for example; systematic extortion of small businesses as well as large companies, such as; construction firms… and if the rumors are true, even local government representatives…

Also, it levies taxes in the areas that it fully controls…

However, one of ISIS’ biggest financial coup so far was the looting of the central bank in Mosul, which brought them equivalent of about $429 million in cash. Additional banks in Mosul and other areas under ISIS control were also plundered…

With $429 million, ISIS could pay 60,000 fighters $600 a month for a whole year… Also, ISIS fighters looted much equipment that U.S. left for Iraq military, like; weapons, vehicles…

Also, with their financial power, it’s relatively easy for ISIS to buy high-quality weapons on international armaments markets… In the article Iraq Interrogation Reveals ISIS Has $2 Billion in Financing by Cathy Burke writes: The interrogation of a trusted messenger for ISIS, led Iraqi commanders to a treasure trove of information on the terror group and its staggering $2 billion in finances…

According to officials; before Mosul, ISIS’ total cash and assets was about $875 million, then afterwards, with the money they robbed from banks and the value of the military supplies they looted, its estimated that they added another $1.5 billion to that…

In less than three years, the extremists morphed from a ragtag band of militants into the most cash-rich terror group in the world, and they are accomplishing these feats all by themselves– these are very industrious people…

According to some intelligence officials; there are no state actors behind ISIS– they just don’t need one… In the article Who’s Funding ISIS? by Robert Windrem writes: There is a small but steady flow of money to ISIS from rich ‘individuals’ in the Gulf with Qataris being the biggest suppliers, according to some U.S. officials…

According to one expert; these rich individuals serve as ‘angel investors’ for the most violent militants, providing ‘seed money’ that helped launch ISIS and other jihadi groups…

These rich Arabs are like what ‘angel investors’ are to high-tech start-ups, except they are interested in starting up groups who want to stir up hatred: Groups like al-Nusrah and ISIS are better investments for them. The individuals act as high rollers early, providing seed money. Once the groups are on their feet, they are perfectly capable of raising funds through other means, like; kidnapping, oil smuggling, selling women into slavery…

According to intelligence official; any outside funding represents a small fraction of ISIS’s total annual income…

The largest source of cash now is oil smuggling along the Turkish border, with ISIS leaders willing to sell oil for as little as $25 a barrel, a quarter of the going world price. Since other previously lucrative sources, such as; kidnapping for ransom… is not as profitable as it once was.

In the article Islamic State: Where Does Jihadist Get Its Support? by Michael Stephens writes: Much has been written about the support Islamic State (ISIS) has received from donors and sympathizers, particularly in the wealthy Gulf States…

Indeed the accusation I hear most from those fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria is that Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are solely responsible for the group’s existence. But the truth is more complex and needs exploring…

It’s true that some wealthy individuals from the Gulf have funded extremist groups in Syria, many taking bags of cash to Turkey and simply handing over millions of dollars at a time…

This was very common practice in 2012 and 2013 but has since diminished and is at most only a tiny percentage of the total income that flows into Islamic State coffers in 2014. Islamic State (ISIS) has put in place what appear to be beginnings of quasi-state structures – ministries, law courts, even a rudimentary taxation system…

ISIS has displayed a consistent pattern since it first began to take territory in early 2013…

Upon taking control of a town it quickly secures the water, flour and hydrocarbon resources of the area, centralizing distribution and thereby making local population dependent on it for survival…

To understand how the Islamic State economy functions is to delve into a murky world of middlemen and shady business dealings, in which ‘loyal ideologues’ on differing sides spot business opportunities and pounce upon them…

ISIS exports about 9,000 barrels of oil per day at prices ranging from about $25-$45 (£15-£27): It’s a traditional war economy…

The point is that ISIS is essentially self-financing; it cannot be isolated and cut off from the world because it’s intimately tied into regional stability in a way that benefits not only itself, but also the people it controls…

 In the article Where ISIS Makes Its Money by Tyler Durden writes: ISIS uses oil wealth to help finance its terror operations. Here’s how they do it…

According to ‘Iraq Energy Institute'; the army of radical Islamists controls production of 30,000 barrels of oil a day in Iraq and 50,000 barrels in Syria…

By selling the oil on the black market at a discounted price of $40 per barrel (compared to about $93/ barrel in free markets), ISIS takes in $3.2 million/day…

According to James Phillips; oil revenue gives ISIS a solid economic base that sustains its continued expansion… The oil revenue, which amounts to nearly $100 million/month, allows ISIS to fund its military, terrorist attacks– and attract recruits from around the world…

To be successful in counter-terrorism efforts, Phillips said; U.S. and its allies must push the Islamic State out of the oil fields it has captured and disrupt its ability to smuggle the oil to foreign markets…

Here’s how Phillips said the ISIS oil operation works: ISIS sells oil to consumers in territory it controls, roughly the size of Maryland, inside Syria and Iraq. The terrorist group also sells oil to network of smugglers that developed in the 1990s during Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s rule; that network smuggled oil out of Iraq to Turkey to avoid sanctions imposed by the UN. ISIS also reportedly sells oil, through middlemen, to Assad regime…

When it comes to making a fast buck, the Middle East has no shortage of ‘strange bedfellows’ willing to do business with each other… The growth of ISIS has been quite incredible: They are armed with– modern weapons, large fighting army, and an effective organization. All of which is bought and paid with real money supplied through a highly sophisticated funding strategy…

According to Senator Rubio; ISIS’s criminal activities– robbery, extortion, and trafficking– have helped them become the best funded terrorist group in history. The wealth has helped expand their operational capacity and incentivized both local and foreign fighters to join them…

ISIS has the resources, weaponry, and operational safe havens to continue to threaten the stability of the region, as well as; U.S., Europe, other nations’ national security interests…

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Islamic State: Turkey MPs to vote on Iraq/Syria deployment

Demonstrators outside parliament called on MPs to reject the motion as the debate took place

The Turkish parliament is debating a motion to allow its military to enter Iraq and Syria and foreign troops to use its territory for the operation. Turkey had been unwilling to fight Islamic State (IS) militants because they were holding 46 Turkish hostages but they were released last month. Parliament is expected to back the motion. However Turkey is wary of retaliation by IS and protesters demonstrated outside parliament as the debate began. The government in Ankara also fears helping the Kurds who are fighting the militants. Turkey has a porous and vulnerable border with Syria, more than 900km (560 miles) long. Turkey has long been accused of permitting the flow of jihadists and resources into Syria as well as allowing IS to traffic oil from oilfields it has captured. The government in Ankara denies the allegations.

Some Turkish troops on the Syria border are not far from IS positions

Mr Erdogan wants parliament to allow Turkey to step up its efforts against IS militants

If MPs back the motion, it could mean the US using its large airbase at Incirlik in southern Turkey for air strikes. Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the West to find a long-term solution to the crises in Syria and Iraq, pointing out that dropping "tonnes of bombs" on IS militants would only provide a temporary respite. While he said "an effective struggle" against IS would be a priority for Turkey, "the immediate removal of the administration in Damascus" would also continue to be its priority. He has repeatedly called for a buffer zone on the Turkish border inside Syria - enforced by a no-fly zone - to ensure security. line The BBC's Mark Lowen in Istanbul What a difference a fortnight makes. Turkey has gone from refusing to take part in the US-led coalition to its parliament voting on a motion that could lead this country into battle in Iraq and Syria - and allow foreign troops to use its territory for that purpose. The reason? The release of 46 Turkish citizens held hostage by Islamic State and plenty of pressure from Washington on its Nato ally. President Obama even called his Turkish counterpart from Air Force One to twist arms. But few expect Turkey to go in guns blazing. It shares a long, vulnerable border with both countries and fears retaliation, not least against Turkish troops protecting an Ottoman tomb in Syria, which IS militants have approached. It is anxious not to embolden the Kurds - with whom the Turkish state fought a long civil war - in their fight against IS. And it wants more: intervention against President Bashar al-Assad's regime and a buffer zone in northern Syria to help cope with the refugee influx, both of which seem some way off. Turkey is a vital player in this coalition - but how far it is willing to go is still unclear.

The Turkish army has deployed armoured vehicles and tanks on its border with Syria amid an IS advance

IS militants have advanced to within a few kilometres of the Kurdish town of Kobane, on the Syrian border with Turkey. Imprisoned Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan was reported by Reuters on Thursday to have warned that peace talks between his group and the Turkish state would end if IS militants were allowed to carry out "a massacre" in Kobane. The Islamic State advance close to the border has prompted thousands of Kurdish refugees fleeing the fighting in Syria to enter Turkey, which is already hosting more than a million Syrian refugees. The IS campaign has also raised fears for the safety of Turkish special forces troops in Syria guarding the mausoleum of Suleyman Shah, the grandfather of Osman I, who founded the Ottoman Empire. The tomb is in a small enclave some 30km (18 miles) south of the Turkish border. Mr Erdogan denied reports on Wednesday that the tomb had been surrounded by militants. line Turkish newspapers suspicious of vote plan "Turkey should say that it is not a part of this war; that its contribution will be to protect the innocent" - Markar Esayan, in pro-government Yeni Safak "It is not possible to be optimistic about any of the scenarios related to this motion" - Okay Gonensin in centrist Vatan "[This motion] will please neither the Syrian administration, nor the Kurds and Arabs - Ali Bulac in moderate Islamist paper Zaman

Turkey is struggling to cope with an influx of Syrian and Kurdish refugees seeking shelter from the conflict

Relief aid is being flown to northern Iraq from Turkey's Incirlik airbase

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UN accuses Islamic State of 'gross rights abuses'

Islamic State fighters began over-running large parts of northern Iraq in early June, committing what the UN says were serious human rights abuses A "staggering array" of human rights abuses has been committed by Islamic State (IS) militants and associated armed groups over a nine-week period in Iraq, the UN says.

 It says that abuses committed between 6 July to 10 September may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity. Iraqi leaders must unite to restore control over IS areas, the UN says.

It says that a number of violations have also been committed by Iraqi security forces and their associates. The UN report, produced jointly by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (Unami) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, is based on almost 500 interviews.

It says that abuses perpetrated by IS and associated armed groups have an "apparent systematic and widespread character".

"These include attacks directly targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, executions and other targeted killings of civilians, abductions, rape and other forms of sexual and physical violence," the report says.

The report also details rights violations committed by the Iraqi security forces and affiliated armed groups

The report accuses IS fighters of persecuting religious and ethnic communities and subjecting women and girls to sexual violence "[They are] perpetrated against women and children, forced recruitment of children, destruction or desecration of places of religious or cultural significance, wanton destruction and looting of property, and denial of fundamental freedoms."

It says that the victims of the abuses are police officers, soldiers, and journalists and members of Iraq's diverse ethnic and religious communities, who have been subjected to "gross human rights abuses, at times aimed at destroying, suppressing or cleansing them from areas under their control".

"This report is terrifying," Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Nickolay Mladenov said. He said that hundreds of other allegations concerning the killing of civilians were not included because they had not yet been properly verified.

 "Iraqi leaders must act in unity to restore control over areas that have been taken over by IS and implement inclusive social, political and economic reforms," Mr Mladenov said.

The report also details rights violations committed by the Iraqi security forces and affiliated armed groups during the same period.

"These included air strikes and shelling as well as the conduct of particular military operations or attacks that may have violated the principles of distinction and proportionality under international humanitarian law," the report says.

On Wednesday, Unami announced that overall a total of at least 9,347 civilians had been killed so far in 2014 and 17,386 wounded - well over half of them since IS began over-running large parts of the north in early June.

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