Islamic extremists have publicly crucified two Syrian rebels
in northeastern Syria in revenge for a grenade attack on members of their
group.
The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq said it had executed a
total of seven prisoners who it claimed had carried out a grenade attack on one
of its fighters earlier this month in the Euphrates Valley city of Raqqa.
The group, which even Al Qaeda have been keen to distance
themselves from, said on Twitter: 'Ten days ago, attackers on a motorbike threw
a grenade at an ISIL fighter at the Naim roundabout. A Muslim civilian had his
leg blown off and a child was killed.
'Our fighters immediately set up a roadblock and succeeded in
capturing them. They were then able to detain other members of the cell.'
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights posted
a photograph of the two prisoners being crucified at the roundabout.
Passers-by appear to be walking past the two men apparently
unfazed.
One of the men is pictured with a banner wrapped round his
body which reads: 'This man fought against Muslims and threw a grenade in this place.'
Abu Ibrahim Alrquaoui, who described himself as a founder of
the group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, told FoxNews.com that those
killed had previously fought against the Syrian government of Bashir al-Assad.
He said he witnessed the executions and took photographs
which are now being circulated online.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said they were not
the first crucifixions by ISIL. On April 16, its fighters executed a man for
theft from a Muslim in the same way.
ISIL's exactions caused a backlash against them from rival
rebel groups, including Al-Qaeda's official Syria affiliate Al-Nusra Front, who
joined forces against its fighters from the start of the year.
ISIL has now been forced out of much of northern Syria but
its fighters remain entrenched in Raqqa - the only provincial capital entirely
outside Syrian government control - and much of its surrounding province.
The group also carried out three executions in the Raqqa provincial
town of Tal Abyad, on the Turkish border, and two more in the town of Saluq,
the Observatory said.
Last week, ISIL claimed responsibility for a series of
explosions which killed 28 people and left more than 40 injured at a political
rally in Iraq on Friday.
The militant group Asaib Ahl Haq (League of the Righteous)
was presenting its candidates for elections on April 30 at the rally in eastern
Baghdad.
Three bombs exploded in succession as people were leaving,
reporters at the scene said.
A roadside bomb went off near the main gate, followed by a
suicide car bomb after a few minutes and then a final explosion.
In a statement posted on the internet, ISIL said it had
carried out the bombings in response to 'murder, torture and displacement' of
Sunnis by Shi'ite militias which 'massacred children and women'.
In February, MailOnline reported how a Syrian girl was stoned
to death for opening a Facebook account after a court, under the jurisdiction
of ISIL, ruled the act of being a member of the social network deserved to be
punished the same way as adultery.
Culled from Daily Mail
