Iraqi court hands death sentence to ISIS militant over killing 16 civilians

A court in Iraq has handed down death sentence to a member of the foreign-sponsored Takfiri Daesh terrorist group over his involvement in the massacre of more than a dozen civilians in the country’s northern province of Nineveh.

The Criminal Court of Nineveh issued the verdict against the unnamed defendant on Sunday after he was convicted of killing 16 people at Mosul General Hospital, and planting hundreds of bombs east of the provincial capital city of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Baghdad, the Arabic service of Russia’s Sputnik news agency reported.

Abdul Sattar al-Biraqdar, spokesman for the Supreme Judicial Council, said the convict has confessed to the execution of the civilians, and placing 250 explosive devices across the town of Bartella.

Biraqdar noted the Daesh terrorist had also participated in terrorist attacks against government forces, namely in the area of Ain al-Safra.

The senior Iraqi judicial official stressed that the death sentence against the Takfiri was passed in accordance with Article IV of the Anti-Terrorism Law.

On June 30, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of Iraqi forces, pledged to hunt down Daesh militants across Iraq after recent attacks and abductions carried out by the terrorist group.

On July 10 that year, the Iraqi prime minister had formally declared victory over Daesh extremists in Mosul, which served as the terrorists’ main urban stronghold in the conflict-ridden Arab country.

In the run-up to Mosul’s liberation, Iraqi army soldiers and volunteer Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters had made sweeping gains against Daesh.

The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January 2017 after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19 last year.

Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks.

Source: Press TV