BAGHDAD: Iraq boosted security Monday amid fears of the Islamic State group launching major attacks on pilgrims flocking to the shrine city of Karbala as further reports emerged of mass killings.
The jihadists are reported to have slaughtered dozens of members of the Sunni Albu Nimr tribe, which took up arms against them in Anbar.
On Monday, tribal leader Naim al-Kuoud al-Nimrawi told AFP that IS “executed 36 people, including four women and three children” on Sunday alone.
Accounts have varied as to the number and timings of the executions, but sources have spoken of more than 200 people murdered in recent days.
A police officer and an official gave figures of more than 200 to 258 people killed, while Iraq´s human rights ministry put the toll at 322 and a tribal leader said 381 were executed.
The mass killings appear aimed at discouraging resistance from powerful tribes in Anbar, where IS overran large areas in June as pro-government forces suffered a string of setbacks.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are expected in Karbala for the Tuesday peak of Ashura.
A roadside bomb in Nahrawan, outside Baghdad, killed at least three people and wounded at least 10 near a tent where Shiites were serving refreshments on the occasion of Ashura.
