Now ISIS killers hide deadly explosives inside innocent looking teddy bears and toy trucks
VILE ISIS warlords have sunk to a sick new low by hiding deadly bombs inside children's TEDDY BEARS.
The innocent-looking toys - left scattered on the streets of Mosul - are used trigger to deadly booby traps that detonate as soon as they are picked up.
Those in the Iraqi war zone say the heartless ploy is clearly intended to target children as adults would walk straight past them.
These and other cunningly disguised improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have now been put on display at a training centre for locally-based bomb disposal experts.
Colonel Nawzad Kamil Hassan, an engineer with the Kurdish forces, told the : "Why would Isis use something nice, like a bear or a rabbit?
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"They used this toy because they know the peshmerga (Kurdish fighters) will not touch it but children will.
"They are not even animals. They are worse than animals."
His bomb disposal unit has cleared 50 tonnes of explosives in two years from areas once controlled by jihadi militants.
More than five tonnes of bombs were cleared from the grounds of one school in Sinjar, a city to the west of Mosul.
Other IEDs, including some with detonators attached to toy trucks, playing cards and 'gold' watches have also been found.
They are not even animals. They are worse than animals
Colonel Nawzad Kamil Hassan
Mosul has been under ISIS control since June 2014.
The current offensive to take it back is the largest deployment of Iraqi forces since the 2003 invasion by the US and coalition forces.
The US military estimates ISIS has up to 5,000 fighters inside Mosul and between 1,500 and 2,500 in a defensive belt around the city.
Of these, around 1,000 are believed to be foreign fighters.
A spokesman for Popular Mobilisation Units, an umbrella group for the militias, confirmed at the weekend that around 15,000 Shiite fighters would be participating in the offensive.
The involvement of Iranian-backed Shiites has raised concerns about religious tensions becoming inflamed in the mainly Sunni city.
The militias have been accused of committing abuses against citizens in other Sunni areas taken back from ISIS in recent months.
Turkey’s president warned their behaviour would be closely monitored to safeguard ethnic Turkmens living in Iraq.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a Turkish response could be triggered if militias ‘terrorise’ the Iraqi-Turkmen town of Tel Afar during the Mosul conflict.
Militia commanders have said their forces will not enter Mosul and will focus on surrounding towns like Tel Afar.
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