The Islamic State group killed five men in Iraq for smuggling people out of territory it controls, the SITE Intelligence Group said on Friday.

Photos posted on social media showed militants from IS, which has suffered a string of losses in Iraq, publicly executing the five men, according to SITE, a US-based monitor.

The jihadist group has consistently sought to prevent people from leaving areas it holds.

IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but has since lost significant ground to Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes and other support.

Iraqi forces recaptured the city of Fallujah, an IS stronghold west of Baghdad, In June, and have now set their sights on Mosul, Iraq's second city and the last in the country to remain in jihadist hands.

Source: AFP