U.S.-backed rebels behead child amid Syrian condemnation

A U.S.-backed Syrian rebel group beheaded a 12-year-old boy in Syria's northern province of Aleppo, amid condemnation from the Syrian government.

Militants with the Nour Addien Zinki group, which is located and largely fight in Aleppo province, executed Abdullah Issa, a Palestinian child from the Handarat camp for Palestinian refugees in Aleppo.

A video clip showing members of the group beheading the boy went viral.

The boy, which was said to had been sick, was apparently trying to dissuade his captors from killing him, but in vain.

One of the captors pushed the boy face down, grabbed a knife, cutting his head while shouting in exhilaration.

According to the group, the boy was accused of being a fighter with a pro-Syrian government Palestinian militia in Aleppo, an allegation totally denied by the Palestinian militia, known as Liwa al-Quds, and the Syrian government as well.

The execution of Issa drew a big wave of condemnation by Syrians online and also by news outlets, particularly that the Nour Addien Zinki group is categorized by the United States as a "moderate" rebel group that is backed by the West.

Local media headlined "U.S. moderate rebels kill a boy in Aleppo," scoffing at the U.S. claims that "moderate rebels" could actually exist in Syria.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry vehemently condemned the beheading, which is said to have happened a day earlier, saying "the terrorist group of Nour Addien Zinki, which is categorized by some countries as moderate, had carried out a cold-blooded crime by beheading a Palestinian kid, who didn't complete his 12 years of age."

"The Syrian government condemns this inhuman crime by Nour Addien Zinki movement which is backed and financed by the regimes of hate and extremism," it said, urging the international community to condemn the killing as well. Endit