At least 150 women who refused to marry militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, were executed in the western Iraqi province of Al-Anbar, Iraq's Ministry of Human Rights said.

According to a ministry statement released Tuesday, ISIL militants carried out a number of attacks in Fallujah and buried the victims in mass graves in one of the city’s neighbourhoods.

“At least 150 females, including pregnant women, were executed in Fallujah by a militant named Abu Anas Al-Libi after they refused to accept jihad marriage,” the statement said. “Many families were also forced to migrate from the province’s northern town of Al-Wafa after hundreds of residents received death threats.”

The ministry said many children died when their families were stranded in the desert after leaving their homes.

ISIL controls many areas in Al-Anbar and is attempting to take over Ramadi, the province’s capital city.

The U.S. is leading an international coalition that has carried out a number of airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq and Syria since the militant group captured the northern province of Mosul back in June.

•Text courtesy of Anadolu Agency. Photo shows ISIL Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.