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Islamic State young fighter executes two suspected spies: activists

Xinhua, January 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Islamic State (IS) militants posted an online video footage on Wednesday, purporting to show an Asian kid shooting down two IS fighters over charges of being moles working for Russia's security apparatus, according to opposition activists.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had received two copies of the video. The first shows the execution of a Kazakhstani and a Russian fighter by the Asian boy, while the second one shows the two men confessing of working as spies for the Russian intelligence.

The Observatory spelled no details about the nationality of the boy or his age or even the names of the executed fighters, but the boy appeared to be 12 or 14 years old, according to a still image the Observatory posted with its report, in which the boy appeared holding a gun, pointing it to the heads of the two men.

According to the Observatory, the two men said their mission was to collect and send back information about the Russian fighters among the IS ranks in addition to information about the commanders of the IS.

The two men also confessed of coming from Russia to Syria through the Turkish territories to enlist in the ranks of the Islamic State, according to the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on ground.

Earlier this month, the Observatory said that at least 19 men, mostly Russians, joined the Islamic State militants in Syria through Turkey last December.

At least 19 men arrived in batches at the Turkish territories in December on pretext of taking part in the New Year's celebrations, said the Observatory.

After self-declaring the Caliphate in Syria and Iraq, IS started to lure people from different parts of the world into traveling to Syria to take part in the building process of their Islamic State, which is largely based on their ultraconservative views of Islam.

Many Europeans and Americans joined this radical group over the past couple of years, prompting the Western powers to form a coalition to battle IS in a bid to kill its ambition in its crib before imploding outward toward Europe and the United States.

Still, the IS militants don't seem to tolerate those who abandon the "state," as the Observatory said that in the past three months, IS executed a total of 120 fighters of its own who wanted to abandon the group and return to their original countries. Endit