According to independent Kurdish sources, the executions took place in the village of Zur Maghar, in western Kurdistan region, following the ISIL’s capture of three Kurdish villages in the area on Friday.

The sources further noted that the victims - local tribal chiefs and the elderly - were either killed by hanging or shooting. The Takfiri militants left three of the bodies hanging from posts at a crossroad for hours, with the aim of intimidating local residents.

On Saturday, ISIL members demolished several holy shrines and mosques belonging to Shia and Sunni Muslims in the militancy-riddled regions of Iraq’s northern province of Nineveh. Latest reports say the militants have razed at least four shrines belonging to revered Sunni or Sufi figures. The extremists also leveled six Shia mosques to the ground.

Local residents and witnesses say the militants have occupied two Orthodox cathedrals and replaced crosses with their black flags. They had previously demolished several churches.

All destructions have taken place in and around the volatile region of Mosul.

Meanwhile, ISIL militants have blown up a bridge on an international highway linking the capital, Baghdad, to the city of Ramadi, blocking the roadway between Jordan and Iraq.

More than one million Iraqis have fled their homes over the past month as the ISIL terrorists seized Mosul and other cities in northwest Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said Saudi Arabia and Qatar are responsible for the security crisis and growing terrorism in his country.

HH/HH