Video shows Iraq soldiers, militia execute child

A video posted on the internet on Wednesday showed Iraqi soldiers shooting to death at close range a captured child suspected to have fought with militants in the Diyala Province. The director of the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights, Mustafa Saadoun, in an interview with Al Hadath News Channel, condemned “the barbaric treatment” of the child, believed to be 11-years old. “The child took part in operations against the Iraqi army and against civilians, but this does not justify his execution in this way,” Saadoun said. “All international and Iraqi laws do not give the right to anyone to kill a minor person,” he said. “He should have been arrested and put on trial in a legal manner and be treated with rehabilitation not torture.” In its fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Iraqi military is heavily dependent on Shiite militias that have been accused of abusing Sunni communities.