UN says, Islamic State (IS) militants have abducted tens of thousands of civilians from around the Iraqi city of Mosul to use as human shields. UN spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani said in Geneva that IS is using women, men and children as human shields to render areas, or military forces immune from military operations. She said, at least 232 people, mostly former Iraqi officers, were killed for refusing to follow orders from IS. <br/><br/>Meanwhile, Iraqi, Kurdish and allied forces,have advanced on their push to retake Mosul, IS's de facto capital in Iraq. Iraq launched a massive operation on October 17 aimed at retaking Mosul, which fell to IS in 2014.