Tens of thousands of men, women and children abducted by so-called Islamic State forces from areas around Mosul are being used as "human shields" in the city as Iraqi government troops advance, the UN human rights office has said.
IS killed at least 232 people on Wednesday, including 190 former Iraqi troops and 42 civilians who refused to obey their orders, UN human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said.
"Credible reports suggest that ISIL [IS] has been forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes in sub-districts around Mosul and have forcibly relocated numbers of civilians inside the city itself since the operation began on the 17th of October to restore Iraqi government control over Mosul," she told a briefing.
This was to "use them as human shields, to be able to keep them close to military installations ... to try to frustrate the military operation against them," she added.
Nearly 8,000 families, of roughly six people each, were abducted in sub-districts including Shura, she said.
"ISIL's depraved cowardly strategy is to attempt to use the presence of civilian hostages to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations, effectively using tens of thousands of women, men and children as human shields," Shamdasani said.
"Many of those who refused to comply were shot on the spot," she said.
The reports, from people who have fled as well as aid groups, have been corroborated by the United Nations, she added.
Iranian-backed Iraqi Shia paramilitary groups are about to launch an offensive on Islamic State positions west of Mosul, assisting in the military campaign to take back the city, a spokesman said.
