Amnesty probing reports of Iraqi forces' abuses in Tikrit

Amnesty International said on April 2 it was investigating reports of serious human rights violations committed by Iraqi government and allied forces in the operation to retake the city of Tikrit.

"We are very concerned by reports of widespread human rights abuses committed in the course of the military operation in the area around Tikrit," the rights watchdog's Donatella Rovera told AFP.

Security forces backed by paramilitary groups and US-led air strikes recaptured Tikrit from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group this week.
 
Outlying areas in Salaheddin province, which had also been under ISIL control since last year, were retaken gradually over the past month.
 
The operation was seen as a test of the Shiite-dominated forces' ability to retake a Sunni area while reining in reprisals.
 
"We are investigating reports that scores of residents have been seized early last month and not heard of since, and that residents' homes and businesses have been blown up or burned down after having been looted by militias," said Rovera, a senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty.
 
"There have also been reports of summary executions of men who may or may not have been involved in combat but who were killed after having been captured," she said.
 
Rovera said the latest such report was an incident on April 1 inside Tikrit.
         
A US military official said it was "unclear" if executions and other alleged atrocities had taken place, but stressed Iraqi forces would be closely monitored as they moved to secure Tikrit.
 
The Iraqis "need to understand we will hold them accountable for the aftermath of the Tikrit operation," added the official, who spoke on condition of...