Shafaq News/ Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi issued on Sunday the first official comment on Al-Farhatiyah massacre, calling for preserving community peace.

The operations officer in the 41st Brigade of Al-Hashd, Qassem al-Kuraiti, said, "One of Al-Hashd points in Balad district was attacked and besieged two days ago by ISIS, which led to the death of one of our fighters and the wounding of 3 others, before the horrific crime occurred in Al-Farhatiyah. After carrying out their attack, the terrorists withdrew and attacked citizens and kidnapped some of them".

Al-Kuraity added, "The organization deliberately committed this crime to threaten the societal peace. Investigations are ongoing to reveal the truth".

On Saturday Unidentified gunmen shot dead eight young men without clarifying the reasons, while four others are currently missing, in Saladin governorate.