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Iraq hangs 36 IS jihadists for Camp Speicher massacre | Iraq hangs 36 IS jihadists for Camp Speicher massacre |
(35 minutes later) | |
Iraq has hanged 36 men convicted over the killing of up to 1,700 military recruits at a former US base in 2014. | Iraq has hanged 36 men convicted over the killing of up to 1,700 military recruits at a former US base in 2014. |
The massacre at Camp Speicher, near Tikrit, was carried out by fighters from so-called Islamic State (IS) as it seized territory across northern Iraq. | The massacre at Camp Speicher, near Tikrit, was carried out by fighters from so-called Islamic State (IS) as it seized territory across northern Iraq. |
Outrage over the massacre of the mostly Shia cadets helped mobilise Iraq's Shia militias in the fight against IS. | Outrage over the massacre of the mostly Shia cadets helped mobilise Iraq's Shia militias in the fight against IS. |
IS militants released photos and video documenting the massacre in 2014. Mass graves were found a year later. | IS militants released photos and video documenting the massacre in 2014. Mass graves were found a year later. |
The graves were discovered when Iraqi government forces recaptured the area. | |
"The executions of 36 convicted over the Speicher crime were carried out this morning in Nasiriyah prison," a spokesman for the governor's office in Dhiqar, the province of which Nasiriyah is the capital, told Agence France-Presse news agency. | |
The spokesman said that Justice Minister Haidar al-Zamili was present at the executions. | |
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had said after last month's Baghdad bomb blast that killed more than 300 people that he wanted to speed up executions of terrorism convicts. | |
Those executed on Sunday, all believed to be Iraqi citizens, had been sentenced to death in February. | |
Photos and videos published by IS after the massacre showed soldiers being loaded on to vehicles and forced to lie face down on the ground before being shot dead. |