The Islamic State (IS) has reportedly chopped the hands of three women over unknown charges and flogged five men for using cellphones in Mosul City, Iraq, the newspaper Independent reported on their website on Tuesday.
According to the Independent, IS has issued a decree punishing mobile phone users with 30 lashes over fear of reporting information to the US-led coalition bombing the group sites in Iraq.
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abady, meanwhile vowed to re-capture Mosul City in an interview with the BBC on Tuesday.
In related news, on Sunday IS beheaded 21 Egyptian Copts captured by the group in Libya since January. Egypt has launched retaliatory aerial strikes against IS sites in Darnah, Libya, on Monday, after the militant group published a video depicting the slaughter of the 21 Egyptians.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on the UN Security Council to reconvene to take new measures against the IS in Libya.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Badr Abdel Aaty alluded on Monday to the possible formation of an Arab military alliance led by Egypt to fight terrorism in some countries in the region. The proposal, he said, will be discussed during the Arab summit scheduled in Cairo at the end of March.
