Morale in the Islamic State ranks is dropping so low that the group is executing its own soldiers for fleeing combat.
ISIS executed five of its own men for fleeing combat in the city of Hit, in Iraq’s Anbar province, reported ARA News Tuesday. Eyewitnesses say ISIS officials claimed the men committed “high treason” when they abandoned positions to the oncoming Iraqi Security Forces (ISF).
“The militants were executed by firing squad at the hands of their fellow fighters,” Raafat al-Zarari, head of the Nineveh Media Centre, told ARA. “The decision has been made by the ISIS leadership, and anyone violating the order is to be executed.”
More than 150 ISIS fighters and leaders attended the execution, Iraqi journalist Adeeb al-Jadi told ARA.
“The group wanted to warn its members that anyone who escaped the fighting would face a similar punishment,” said Jadi.
Desertion within the ISIS ranks is not a new phenomenon, though it is increasingly prevalent in recent months as the so-called caliphate continues to lose territory. Two ISIS members, also charged with “high treason,” were executed in similar fashion in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor city last Thursday. Six more fighters were killed in July, after being accused of spying for Operation Inherent Resolve.
The terrorist group culls its ranks regularly to get rid of potential spies, killing off as many as 38 men in one instance. Paranoia regarding spies within the ISIS ranks has even led to families turning on each other. An ISIS propaganda video published in June featured a man executing his own brother for alleged spying. Another fighter in Raqqa, Syria is reported to have killed his own mother in front of hundreds for her attempts at preventing him from joining the terrorist group.
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