IS Holding 3,500 Women And Children As 'Slaves'

Members of the Yazidi community were seized, along with hundred of children forced to become child soldiers, a UN report says.

Islamic State is holding an estimated 3,500 women and children as slaves in Iraq, the United Nations has said.

Those being held are primarily women and children from the Yazidi community, but a number are from other ethnic and religious minority groups, according to a report issued in Geneva. 

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq and the UN's human rights office have documented widespread abuses that "in some instances amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide".

They also said IS militants have imposed a harsh rule marked by gruesome public executions.  

Methods of execution include shooting, beheading, bulldozing, burning people alive and throwing them off the top of buildings.