Iraq U.N. ambassador accuses ISIS of harvesting organs
Bodies with missing kidneys and surgical incisions have been unearthed, the ambassador said
Iraq’s ambassador to the United Nations on Tuesday asked the Security Council to investigate allegations that ISIS is harvesting organs in order to finance its operations.
Ambassador Mohammad al-Hakim stated that over the past few weeks, bodies with missing kidneys and surgical incisions had been unearthed in shallow graves.
“We have bodies. Come and examine them,” he told reporters, according to The Telegraph. “It is clear they are missing certain parts.”
He added that dozens of doctors had been “executed” in Mosul, apparently because they had refused to take part in organ harvesting.
Meanwhile, the outgoing U.N. Envoy to Iraq Nikolay Mladenov noted increasing reports that ISIS was using organ harvesting, saying “it’s very clear that the tactics Isil is using expand by the day.”
“Especially worrying is the increasing number of reports of revenge attacks committed particularly against members of the Sunni community in areas liberated from [ISIS] control,” he added.
In February, the Pentagon stated that ISIS is no longer relying on oil as its main source of revenue to fund its terrorist activity.
“We know that oil revenue is no longer the lead source of their [ISIS’] income in dollars,” Pentagon spokesperson Rear Admiral John
Kirby told reporters during a press briefing.
ISIS’ loss of income is compounded by its losses on the battlefield as the group has “lost literally hundreds and hundreds of vehicles that they can’t replace,” Kirby said.
“They’ve got to steal whatever they want to get, and there’s a finite number.”
ISIS is instead depending on “a lot of donations” as one of the main sources of income. “They also have a significant black market program going on,” Kirby said.
-
How ISIS ‘makes millions’ selling antiquities
Some of the pieces, which have less historic values, end up in tourist shops and markets in neighboring Lebanon and Turkey Art and culture -
Italy: ISIS poses ‘evident risk’ in Libya
Italy calls for ‘change of pace’ in approach to Libya crisis Middle East -
#MuslimLivesMatter is at the heart of defeating ISIS
Chapel Hill is small scale compared to the willful negligence of covering extremists killing of Muslims Middle East -
Egypt strikes back, but how far will ISIS fight go?
ANALYSIS: Egypt has unleashed 'abrupt-yet-foreseeable' airstrikes on ISIS targets in Libya following the execution of hostages Analysis -
Report: Danish gunman in ISIS link claim
Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein appears to have written on his Facebook page a message of allegiance with the militant group World News -
Anti-terrorism police arrest two 16-year-olds near Manchester
Also on Tuesday, a 29-year-old man was arrested in Stoke-on-Trent on suspicion of encouraging terrorism and supporting ISIS World News -
Panorama: ISIS in Libya and future scenarios
News Bulletins -
Egypt’s Al-Azhar prohibits watching ISIS execution videos
Al-Azhar called on media outlets to avoid publishing the 'crimes of the terrorists' Middle East