According to Arabic-language Karbala news agency, local official Mowaffaq Hamid al-Azawi said on Friday that the ISIL members executed the victims in the western al-Islah neighborhood of the city, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital, Baghdad, after the men refused to pledge allegiance to the terrorist group’s leader, Ibrahim al-Samarrai aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Azawi further described Mosul as a big open-air prison, where residents are subjected to various kinds of torture and are suffering at the hands of the ISIL.

He added that some scholars in the city even distort religious principles to serve the ISIL’s interests.

The development came on the same day as the ISIL terrorists immolated three civilians in the town of Hit, located about 140 kilometers west of Baghdad, after accusing them of collaborating with the Iraqi security forces.

The brutal executions are similar to the one carried out against Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kassasbeh, who was captured and held by the terrorists as a hostage. On February 3, the ISIL posted a video online showing the Takfiri terrorists setting the airman on fire.