Iraq “mass murder” photos released; US in for Talks with Iran

Pictures of captured Iraqi soldiers being shot by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants were posted on Twitter by its members this weekend. The images show the Shia captives loaded onto the trucks and then forced to lay face-down in a shallow ditch with their arms tied behind their backs followed by pictures of the bodies soaked in blood after being shot with a caption “hundreds have been liquidated”. The Twitter account where the pictures were posted was suspended hours later.

The ISIL and associated Sunni rebel forces have taken control of cities and towns in northern Iraq last week, accelerating the crisis and increasingly splitting the communities along sectarian lines. Chief military spokesman Lieutenant-General Qassim al-Moussawi told the Associated Press that an examination of the images by military experts showed that about 170 soldiers were shot to death.

Meanwhile the U.S is preparing for talks with Iran for a way out from the Sunni insurgency in Iraq and is expected to begin this week. US senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday that Washington needed Iran’s involvement to prevent a government collapse in Iraq and should open talks with Tehran.

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