Baghdadi orders execution of 56 IS members following defeat in northern Iraq

Dubai: The Islamic State (IS) chief has reportedly ordered the execution of 56 members of the group after they were defeated by Peshmerga troops in northern Iraq, a Kurdish official said.

Saeed Mamozini, an official in the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) said that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi took the decision after the militants were defeated in Kober, south of the capital city Erbil, and about 300 members of the group were killed, reported Al Arabiya News.

The report said that the executions took place in the Al-Namrood, east Mosul. Iraqi troops and Kurdish fighters have been battling the IS since last year and are backed by United States-led coalition air strikes.

The terror group has captured large swathes of territory in Iraq and seeks to establish an "Islamic caliphate" to be headed by Baghdadi in areas spanning different Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq and Syria.