Isis orders all women and girls in Mosul to undergo FGM, says UN

Iraqi families displaced by the Isis offensive in Mosul and northern Iraq at a refugee camp near Irbil. Photograph: Kamal Akrayi/EPA

Jul 24, 2014, The Guardian

The militant group Islamic State (Isis) has ordered all girls and women in and around Iraq‘s northern city of Mosul to undergo female genital mutilation, the United Nations says.

The “fatwa” issued by the Sunni Muslim fighters would potentially affect 4 million women and girls, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, Jacqueline Badcock, told reporters in Geneva by videolink from Irbil.

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

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

No one was immediately available for comment from Isis, which has led an offensive through northern and western Iraq.

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