The bloody aftermath of Islamic State's mass execution of 770 Iraqi soldiers in Tikrit last year was so vast, it could be seen from space. It was originally thought that 190 troops were slaughtered when the terror group overran and conquered Saddam Hussein's hometown. But crucial satellite imagery uncovered three new execution sites and tripled the death toll.
These photographs, footage of the gruesome massacre and harrowing eyewitness accounts have now helped convict 24 of the ISIS fanatics behind the atrocity. An Iraqi court has sentenced them to hang for their role in the slaughter of hundreds of soldiers on Wednesday. Four others were acquitted for lack of evidence and as many as 604 other militants, who are also thought to have taken part, are still at large.
The day after conquering the city in central Iraq, ISIS claimed it executed 1,700 Shi'ite 'members of the army' who were trying to escape the coming onslaught. The terror group began to release gruesome videos and images which showed the men shackled together and shot in the head - before their bloodied corpses were thrown into shallow trenches.
All of the defendants pleaded not guilty and claimed they did not take part part in the massacre - insisting their confessions were coerced under torture by Iraqi officers. Several relatives of the deceased soldiers stormed the courtroom and threw shoes and water bottles at the defendants while they were being questioned by the chief judge, the Guardian reports.
Some of them burst into tears when the sentences were passed, before raising pictures of their relatives and chanting: 'Allahu Akbar.' After analysing the horrendous imagery, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said two trenches were located in a field 100m away from the 'Water Palace' - which can be seen on the overhead images.
But a newly-released ISIS propaganda video of the execution and satellite imagery helped identify three new execution sites - elevating the death toll by between 285 and 440 to up to 770.
All of the defendants pleaded not guilty and claimed they did not take part part in the massacre - insisting their confessions were coerced under torture by Iraqi officers. Several relatives of the deceased soldiers stormed the courtroom and threw shoes and water bottles at the defendants while they were being questioned by the chief judge, the Guardian reports.
Some of them burst into tears when the sentences were passed, before raising pictures of their relatives and chanting: 'Allahu Akbar.' After analysing the horrendous imagery, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said two trenches were located in a field 100m away from the 'Water Palace' - which can be seen on the overhead images.
But a newly-released ISIS propaganda video of the execution and satellite imagery helped identify three new execution sites - elevating the death toll by between 285 and 440 to up to 770.
0 comments: