The Prime Minister’s Office of Iraq issued a statement and said 12 “terrorists” who had been sentenced to death have been executed following Abadi’s order regarding the executions on Thursday. These people’s sentences had been finalized and approved by the Presidency.

The executions came two days after bodies of 8 victims abducted by ISIS were discovered. In a video they prepared for the abductees, the gangs had threatened to execute the hostages if the female ISIS members under arrest were not released.

When the bodies of 8 victims were discovered, Abadi had ordered the immediate execution of ISIS members whose death sentences had been finalized.

There are over 300 ISIS members, some 100 of them foreigners, who have been sentenced to death in Iraq, and some 300 more who were sentenced to life in prison.