News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Islamic State terrorists have executed 19 Yazidi girls by putting them in cages and burning them to death, it has been claimed.

Eyewitnesses said the women, taken by the jihadis as sex slaves, were put in iron cages in central Mosul and burnt alive.

A baying mob of hundreds then watched on as the terrified women slowly died while being consumed by the flames.

Speaking to ARA News , local media activist Abdullah al-Malla said: "They were punished for refusing to have sex with ISIS militants."

Another eyewitness added: “The 19 girls were burned to death, while hundreds of people were watching.

"Nobody could do anything to save them from the brutal punishment."

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

(Image: Reuters/Stringer)

ISIS took over the predominantly Yazidi area of region of Shingle in northern Iraq in August 2014.

Read more:Dramatic moment Euro 2016 terror suspect 'armed to the teeth' is arrested

Hundreds of thousands of Yazidis, an ethnically Kurdish religious community, fled the region but tens of thousands were trapped by ISIS forces.

They suffered mass killings, kidnappings and rapes while more than 3,000 Yazidi girls are said to have been taken by the radical group as sex slaves.

Officials claim about 1,800 women and girls are still being held in captivity by ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria.