Islamic State militants fighting to hold on to their Mosul stronghold have killed at least 20 people in the last two days for passing information to "the enemy" and are back on the city streets policing the length of men's beards, residents say, according to Reuters.
Five crucified bodies were put on display at a road junction on Tuesday, November 8 a clear message to the city's remaining 1.5 million residents that the ultra-hardline Islamists are still in charge, despite losing territory to the east of the city.
Others were seen hanging from electricity poles and traffic signals around the city, residents said on Wednesday.
Thousands of Islamic State fighters have run Mosul, the largest city under their control in Iraq and neighboring Syria, since they conquered large parts of northern Iraq in 2014.
They are now battling a 100,000-strong coalition including Iraqi troops, security forces, Kurdish peshmerga and mainly Shi'ite paramilitary groups, which has almost surrounded the city and has broken into eastern neighborhoods.
Residents contacted by telephone said many parts of the city were calmer than they had been for days, allowing people to venture out to seek food, even in areas which have seen heavy fighting over the last week.
"I went out in my car for the first time since the start of the clashes in the eastern districts," said one Mosul resident. "I saw some of the Hisba elements of Daesh (Islamic State) checking people's beards and clothes and looking for smokers".
Islamic State's Hisba force is a morality police unit which imposes the Sunni jihadists' interpretation of Islamic behavior. It forbids smoking, says women should be veiled and wear gloves, and bans men from Western-style dress including jeans and logos.
Hisba units patrol the city in specially marked vehicles.
"It looks like they want to prove their presence after they disappeared for the last 10 days, especially on the eastern bank," the resident said.
Mosul is divided into two halves by the Tigris river running through its center. The eastern half, where elite Iraqi troops have broken through Islamic State defenses, has a more mixed population than the western, overwhelmingly Sunni Arab side, where Islamic State fighters are believed to be strongest.
