(CNN) Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi has called for the “immediate” execution of all convicted “terrorists” on death row after the bodies of eight members of the country’s security forces thought to have killed by ISIS were found earlier this week.
Iraq executed a dozen death row jihadists on the order of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, his office said today, in retaliation for the Islamic State group’s execution of eight captives. The executions on June 28 came shortly after Abadi ordered the “immediate” implementation of the death sentences of hundreds of convicted jihadists in response to the killings by IS.
/ AFP PHOTO / Iraq Justice Minister / HandoutHANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images
Abadi ordered “the immediate implementation of the fair punishment of terrorists condemned to death whose sentences have passed the decisive stage,” his office said in a statement Thursday.
Hundreds of prisoners have been sentenced to death by Iraqi courts since Mosul and the surrounding area were reclaimed from ISIS, Reuters reported in April.
“The statistics coming from the criminal courts show that 815 people have gone on trial and that 212 were sentenced to death. A further 150 were sentenced to life in prison,” Judge Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar, a judiciary spokesman, told the news agency at the time.
“The vast majority of these rulings were against elements of the Islamic State terrorist organisation who were proven to have committed crimes, and came after public trials conducted in accordance with the law. Defendants were afforded their rights,” Birqdar said.
Following the Prime Minister’s directive, Iraqi officials executed a dozen ISIS members on Thursday, the statement from Abadi’s office added.
“Based on the direction of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, executions were carried out on Thursday on 12 convicted terrorists who have received final verdicts,” the statement read.
The executions came a day after the bodies of eight Iraqi security forces believed to have been killed by ISIS fighters were found on Wednesday.
Amaq, the terror group’s media wing, released a short video Saturday showing six men being held hostage by gunmen, and demanded the release of ISIS female prisoners and leaders from Iraqi jails. In a separate Amaq statement ISIS said they were holding eight men hostage.
The militants in the video gave the Iraqi government a three-day deadline to release the ISIS prisoners and threatened to kill the hostages if their demands were not met.
The killings sparked anger among ordinary Iraqi people, who blamed the government for failing to act quickly.
Abadi visited the headquarters of the Joint Operations Command on Thursday, where he promised swift revenge for the killings.
“This is a very important meeting, first of all we give our condolences to the families of the victims and we give another promise today that we will arrest or kill them, this is a promise” Abadi said.
The Iraqi PM said early forensic reports indicated the hostages had been killed nearly a week ago, suggesting ISIS lied about the three-day deadline.
ISIS militant groups are still capable of carrying attacks against Iraqi forces and civilians even though Abadi officially declared full liberation of Iraq from ISIS back in December.
