The UN voiced deep concern Friday over the reported shelling and burning of homes in the Iraqi city of Tuz Khurmatu, warning of a "serious risk" that violence could escalate.

The United Nations rights office pointed to reports that residential areas of Tuz Khurmatu, in the Salahaddin governorate, had been shelled on December 9 and 12, "causing casualties among civilians."

"It is not clear who is carrying out the shelling, which is reported to be coming from the mountains overlooking the area," agency spokeswoman Liz Throssell told reporters in Geneva.

Iraqi forces are working to determine where the shelling is coming from and who is responsible.

Tensions have been swelling in the disputed area of Tuz Khurmatu following September's independence referendum in the neighbouring Kurdistan Region.

The city's population is a mix of Turkoman, Kurd and Arab communities, and Throssell warned that "there is a serious risk that given the ethnic and religious fault lines in the area, that violence could escalate and spread."

In recent weeks, clashes have raged between the Kurdish security forces also known as the Peshmerga and Turkmen Popular Mobilisation Units (PMUs).

"This fighting has to date resulted in an unconfirmed number of deaths in each group," Throssell said.

She said staff from the UN rights office visited the city on December 7 and again on the 14th to investigate reports of the burning of homes and looting of businesses.

They had seen "some 150 premises that had been burned or otherwise damaged," she said, adding that they had also spoken with people who had fled violence in the city and were currently staying in Kirkuk and Erbil.

In October, a similar number of houses were reportedly looted and burned by Turkmen PMUs and civilians, she pointed out.

As many as 11 houses reportedly belonging to Kurdish families and officials had also been destroyed by explosives in the city, Throssell said.

"Thousands of residents, mainly of Kurdish origin left for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, apparently fearing repercussions, and to date many have not returned," she warned.

The UN rights office called for an end to "all acts that threaten the fundamental rights of the Tuz Khurmatu population."

"We also call on the Iraqi authorities to ensure that civilians there are protected and those responsible for human rights abuses brought to justice," Throssell said.

Sweden summons Iraq envoy over execution of dual national
Stockholm (AFP) Dec 15, 2017 - Sweden on Friday summoned Iraq's ambassador after condemning the hanging of an Iraqi-Swedish citizen among 38 jihadists belonging to the Islamic State (IS) group or Al-Qaeda in the southern city of Nasiriyah.

"The death penalty is an inhumane, cruel, and irreversible punishment. Sweden and the rest of the EU condemn its application in all its forms," Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallstrom said in a statement.

"We have repeatedly throughout the years and at all levels protested against our citizens being sentenced to death," she said.

The Iraqi ambassador to Stockholm was expected to be at the foreign ministry in the afternoon.

The executions Thursday were the largest number in Iraq on a single day since September 25, when 42 people were put to death in the same prison in Nasiriyah.

Dakhel Kazem, a senior official in the provincial council, said the prison executed "38 death row prisoners belonging to Al-Qaeda or Daesh (IS) accused of terrorist activities".

"We had appealed to Iraq to not enforce the sentence but to turn it into a prison sentence," Wallstrom said.

A source at the prison said all the jihadists were Iraqis, while the Swedish citizen, who Swedish media reports said was in his 60s, had dual Iraqi citizenship.

Swedish authorities did not confirm his age, nor how he ended up in Iraq or whether he was an IS or Qaeda member.

The Swedish foreign ministry said he "lived in Iraq" and was "sentenced to death by an Iraqi court in 2010 for terrorist crimes".

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Saturday declared victory against IS after a three-year campaign by government forces backed by a US-led coalition to retake territory seized by the jihadists.

Amnesty International has repeatedly expressed concerns about the use of the death penalty in Iraq, saying it carries out some of the highest numbers of executions each year, behind China, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

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Iraq hangs 38 members of IS, Qaeda; 20 IS killed in southern Syria
Nasiriyah, Iraq (AFP) Dec 14, 2017
Iraq hanged 38 jihadists belonging to the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda for terrorism offences on Thursday in the southern city of Nasiriyah, provincial authorities said. It was the largest number of executions in Iraq on a single day since September 25 when 42 people were put to death in the same prison. "The prison administration executed on Thursday in the presence of Justice Minist ... read more

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