[Terrorism] Jihadists 'order four million girls and women in Iraqi city to undergo female genital mutilation'

There was anger last night after it emerged militant group ISIS may have ordered compulsory female genital mutilation (FGM) for all women and girls in a region of Iraq now under its control.

The extremist group has seized large swathes of the troubled country's northern regions and is now said to be imposing its hardline Sharia rules on the population.

The United Nations expressed deep concern yesterday at reports all girls and women in and around city of Mosul are to being forced to undergo FGM procedures.

 

'This is something very new for Iraq, particularly in this area, and is of grave concern and does need to be addressed,' Badcock said.

'This is not the will of Iraqi people, or the women of Iraq in these vulnerable areas covered by the terrorists,' she added.

But doubts emerged on social media about the basis for the report. One document posted on Twitter suggested it may be a year old and have been issued by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, the group's previous name.

Worldwide, more than 130 million girls and women have undergone FGM and more than 700 million women alive today were children when they were married.

The practice of FGM previously occurred only in isolated pockets of Iraq, mainly Kurdistan, according to Badcock.

Mosul city currently has some two million people, more than half of whom are women as there are many female-headed households in the area, she said. Several more million people live in surrounding areas, she added.

'There are reports of rapes of women, of forced marriages,' Badcock added.

 The group have even published a report boasting of their achievements, including the number of bombings