Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have reportedly captured up to 3,000 fleeing villagers in northern Iraq, according to the UN refugee agency, or UNHCR.
In its daily report on events in Iraq, UNHCR said on Friday that 12 of the captives were thought to had been executed by ISIL, also known as ISIS.
"UNHCR has received reports that ISIL captured on 4 August up to 3,000 IDPs [internally displaced people] from villages in Hawiga district in Kirkuk governorate trying to flee to Kirkuk city," UNHCR said.
"Reportedly, 12 of the IDPs have been killed in captivity."
The villagers were on the run from fighting in Kirkuk province and seeking safety in the nearby city of the same name, a UN spokesman also told DPA news agency.