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Isis burns 19 Yazidi women to death in Mosul for 'refusing to have sex with fighters'

The women were reportedly burned to death in iron cages because they refused to have sex with Isis fighters

Monday 06 June 2016 07:13 BST

Thousands of Yazidi women were taken captive when Isis seized control of Sinjar, Iraq, in August 2014 (AFP/Getty)

Isis militants have publicly executed 19 Yazidi women by burning them alive in Mosul, Iraq, local activists report.

The women were burned to death in iron cages because they refused to have sex with Isis fighters, the Kurdish ARA News agency reported.

“They were punished for refusing to have sex with Isis militants,” Abdullah al-Malla, a local media activist, told the agency.

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

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1/15Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community settle at a camp at Derike, Syria. In the camps here, Iraqi refugees have new heroes: Syrian Kurdish fighters who battled militants to carve an escape route to tens of thousands trapped on a mountaintop

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

A pilot based at RAF Marham entering a Tornado GR4 prior to taking off for the reconnaissance mission over Iraq. Several RAF Tornado jets set off from RAF Marham in Norfolk this afternoon to travel to a "pre-position", from where they will fly to northern Iraq to provide improved surveillance of the situation on the ground. The jets, fitted with Litening III targeting and surveillance pods, will be able to fly over the crisis area to provide intelligence and help with the delivery of humanitarian aid

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

A British Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR4 aircraft equipped with the Litening III pod from RAF Marham, eastern England, on their arrival at RAF Akrotiri Cyprus for their reconnaissance mission over Iraq

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

Aid inside a Royal Air Force (RAF) Hercules C130 J aircraft before being airdropped to civilians in Iraq

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

A Royal Air Force (RAF) Hercules C130 J military transport plane at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Britain made a third round of airdrops of supplies to aid refugees stranded on a mountain in northern Iraq, officials said, as Tornado fighters arrived at an RAF base in Cyprus preparing to provide surveillance support for the humanitarian effort

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR4 aircraft, flown in from Britain, stand on the tarmac at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

A displaced man helps a woman, both from the minority Yazidi sect fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, as they make their way towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

Iraqis including Turkmen, Shabaks, Kurds, Yezidis and Christians, fleeing from assaults of army groups led by Isis, take shelter at Bahirka Camp in Arbil

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community look for clothes to wear among items provided by a charity organization at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community gather for food at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community gather for food at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

Syrian Kurdish Peshmerga fighters take a sick Iraqi Yazidi woman to the clinic at Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar

Iraq crisis

Sick displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community wait for treatment at a clinic at Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria

An eyewitness in Mosul told ARA News: “The 19 girls were burned to death, while hundreds of people were watching."

"Nobody could do anything to save them from the brutal punishment."

Thousands of Yazidi women were taken captive when Isis seized control of Sinjar, in north western Iraq, in August 2014.

Yazidi women speak of rape and beatings at the hands of Isis

The Iraqi army is preparing for an assault on the Isis stronghold of Fallujah.

Soldiers have secured a neighbourhood to the south of the city and are poised to enter the centre of the city.

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