Islamic State Group Burns 45 to Death in Iraq

A local Iraqi police chief reported to the BBC on Tuesday that the Islamic State group had burned 45 people to death in the town of al-Baghdadi.

Colonel Qasim al-Obeidi said he did not know exactly who the victims were, but he suspected that some of them were part of the security forces.

Al-Baghdadi was captured by the Islamic State group Thursday after months of intense fighting between the Iraqi military and the violent Islamist movement. Before falling to the Islamic State group, al-Baghdadi had been one of the few towns in Anbar province that was still under the control of the Iraqi military.

Ain al-Asad, an air base where 300 U.S. troops are training Iraqi soldiers, is only 8 miles away from al-Baghdadi. Last week, the Islamic State group tried to attack the air base with suicide bombers, but were pushed back.

Al-Obadi begged for more support from the Iraqi government and the international community in order to fight the Islamic State group.

Moqtadar al-Sadr, a well-known Shia cleric, announced that he would no longer be fighting in coalition with a group of Shia militias, Popular Mobilisation Forces, and the Iraqi army against the Islamic State group. He said that this withdrawal was in response to other militia members "wreaking havoc through murdering, kidnapping and violating sanctuaries."