IS 'chaining children, disabled' into car bombs in Mosul

Islamic State [IS] is chaining children and disabled people into car bombs in Mosul and forcing them to drive at Iraqi security forces, a top US general said on Thursday.

The tactic was a sign that IS are running out of willing volunteers as the war turns against them, said Brigadier General Matt Isler.

"We saw people being led to a VBIED [a suicide car bomb], being put in (it) and being chained in the VBIED," he said.

"We've seen children put in VBIEDs as drivers, people that aren't able to walk... I don't know if they signed up for this service."

A recent IS propaganda video, titled "the procession of light", appears to show a number of children and handicapped people 'willingly' volunteer to drive these vehicles.

There have been numerous reports in the past of suicide bombers chaining themselves inside these vehicles as a sign of commitment to their goal.

Malcolm W. Nance, a counter-terrorism expert, wrote in his book, The Terrorists of Iraq, that the chains are a sign that the bombers themselves do not want to return.

IS has used hundreds of suicide car bomb attacks in the past year to defend what remains of their territory in Mosul.