Al-Maliki militia accused of executing 70 detainees

The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq (AMSI) has accused government militias of executing nearly 70 detainees, southeast of the city of Hilla.

In a statement, AMSI said the detainees were under the common control of the Iraqi forces and Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki’s militias on the Hashimeya-Kish highway, southeast of the city of Hilla, near Babil province, when elements of the militia forces blew the tyres of the vehicles carrying the prisoners and executed them in front of the government forces.

The statement said: “Elements of the militias killed all 69 detainees and did not hurt any of the government forces accompanying the convoy contrary to the government’s story.”

The statement emphasised that what happened is “a crime against humanity and has been executed in clear coordination between several parties against the innocent defenceless detainees” and demanded the international community assume its responsibilities to stop these crimes.

The Iraqi police said earlier that 15 prisoners and 10 members of the police were killed and 43 were wounded including eight police officers and 35 prisoners in the attack on Monday.

Al-Jazeera quoted sources as saying that the bodies of 63 detainees who had been executed were found in the police station in central Baquba, in Diyala province.

Militants published images of more than 50 prisoners which they claimed were killed by militias close to the government before its withdrawal from the city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul.