File photo of ISIS carrying out mass execution

ISIS militants killed more than 300 members of a Sunni tribe in a recent series of executions, the Iraqi government said Monday.

Some of the 322 people executed were women and children, Iraq’s Ministry of Human Rights said. The dead belonged to the Albu Nimr tribe, known for its fighting skill. Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said Washington hasn’t been able to confirm those figures, but “we have no reason to doubt their authenticity.”

The latest incident came Saturday when 75 members of Albu Nimr were taken from their homes and killed in the desert near the town of Hit, said one of the tribe’s leaders, Sheikh Nabil Al-Ga’oud. It has been unusual for ISIS militants, who refer to themselves as the Islamic State, to kill women and children.

“We are not surprised by their actions,” Al-Ga’oud told CNN. “Their religious leaders have given them an order to kill all of our tribe and take everything that we own because we are fighting against ISIS.”

He said nine children and six women were killed in Saturday’s attack. A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department condemned the ISIS attacks.

“This proves, once again, that (ISIS) does not represent anything but its warped ideology and provides more evidence, if any were needed, why our coalition partners, including Iraqis from every background, must work together to defeat these terrorists,” Jen Psaki said at the department’s daily briefing.

Source: CNN