Baghdad, Oct 30 (IANS): The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group executed 75 tribesmen in western Iraq Thursday, a day after it executed 30 tribesmen from the same allied Sunni tribe in Iraq's province of Anbar, a provincial security source said.
The IS captured some 75 tribesmen from the Sunni tribe of Albu Nimer in the militant seized town of Heet, some 160 km west of Iraq's capital Baghdad, and executed them at about 12:30 p.m. for corraborating with the security forces against its militants, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The tribesmen were shot in the head in front of dozens of residents who were forced to witness the executions, the source said.
The incident came a day after the IS militants executed some 30 tribesmen from Albu Nimer tribe.
Security forces and their allied Sunni tribesmen have been battling the extremist Sunni militants in fierce clashes since mid-October. They managed to keep hold of parts of Heet, preventing it from falling into the hands of IS militants who have taken control of around 80 percent of the town.
However, the government forces held their last positions in the town for only 10 days due to the lack of reinforcement troops and an ammunition shortage.
More than 1,000 heavily-armed tribesmen and some troops left the town in around 500 vehicles to take refuge in the nearby town of Barwana, which is still under the control of the Iraqi forces. Some government-allied tribesmen ceased fighting and returned to the town, while others apparently were captured by IS militants.
The IS has seized around 80 percent of Iraq's largest province of Anbar and is trying to advance towards Baghdad, but several counter-attacks by the security forces and Shia militias have pushed them away from areas west of the capital, which has a large Shia population and is heavily fortified by security forces and Shia militias.
Since December last year, insurgent attacks continued in the Sunni Arab heartland west of Baghdad that stretches through Anbar province, which has been the scene of fierce clashes that flared up after Iraqi police dismantled an anti-government protest site outside the city of Ramadi.