Takfiri ISIL terrorists have reportedly executed dozens of civilians in Iraq’s oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk as the victims sought to escape from the extremists

Takfiri ISIL terrorists have reportedly executed dozens of civilians in Iraq’s oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk as the victims sought to escape from the extremists.

Hassan Mahmoud al-Soufi, a commander of pro-government Popular Mobilization units, told Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network on Saturday that Daesh militants executed 61 people, among them a woman, by firing squad at a militant base on the outskirts of the militant-held town of Hawijah, located about 282 kilometers (175 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad.

Soufi noted that the deceased were among the 3,000 civilian whom ISIL Takfiris had ambushed and captured a few day ago as the former tried to flee from Hawijah. It is estimated that hundreds of women, children and elderly people are among those being held captive.

There are reports that ISIL extremists plan to use the hostages as human shields to stop the advance of government forces gearing up for the liberation of Hawijah.

On Thursday, ISIL terrorists had killed 12 Hawijah residents attempting to flee the militant-held area.