Mosul (Irag) – Atheel al-Najafi, Iraqi Provincial Governor said on Monday that the Islamic State militants had executed more than 120 people and captured over 350 others in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

He said that because of the rising rejection of the Islamic State by the people, executions and detentions were mounting in different parts of the city.

al-Najafi said that the victims, some of whom had been held hostage by the Islamic State for months, were executed by gunshots to the head.

He said that those captured by the Islamic State were mainly police officers, current and former army officials, electoral commission employees, former parliamentary candidates and religious scholars.

al-Najafi said that Mosul, Iraq’s second city was captured by the Islamic State in 2014 as part of its territorial push into the region, which includes large parts of Syria and Iraq.