A shocking new propaganda video purportedly shows teenage boys grinning with delight as they prepare to execute five innocent men accused of being spies in the Iraqi city of Nineveh after the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) called for volunteers to kill “apostates.”
“ISIS jihadis present[ed] the prisoners to an assembled crowd of captive locals from the city of Nineveh, Iraq,” reports the U.K.’s Express.
“They then call for volunteers from the mass of onlookers before five young men step forward with arms raised high to perform the barbaric execution,” it continues. “The willing participants can be seen grinning as the jihadis pass them handguns and line them up to kill the prisoners — who have their arms bound and their eyes covered.”
ISIS militants gave handguns to the selected volunteer killers, who appeared ecstatic to point their weapons at the five victims as they stood behind them.
As the smiling murderers aim their weapons at the victims’ heads, a crowd could be heard roaring.
“They were all dressed in red [jumpsuits] and were blindfolded before being forced to kneel on the ground,” reports the Daily Mail, referring to the prisoners.
The teenage boys then opened fired after a short countdown chanted by the onlookers, dropping the victims’ lifeless bodies to the floor.
“The bodies of the prisoners are then just left in the middle of the crowd while they cheer,” notes the Daily Mail.
Several rounds of bullets were reportedly fired by the volunteers. One of the killers appeared to fire a celebratory shot into the air after the executions.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that the video shows “confessions” of the five victims from Mosul alleging that they shared intelligence on the activities and positions of the terrorist group in Nineveh where the city of the same name is located.
Mosul is the capital of Nineveh province and Iraq’s second largest city. U.S.-backed Iraqi military forces have launched an operation to retake the strategic provincial capital from ISIS.
ISIS had sentenced all five prisoners to death on charges of apostasy. The jihadist group is known to impose Sharia, or strict Islamic law, in the areas it controls.
Released on social media Wednesday, the 12-minute video was reportedly produced by the ISIS wing in Nineveh province, which is largely controlled by terrorist group.
ISIS has previously used young people in propaganda videos to instill fear across the globe and carry out atrocities, mainly by force.
Early this year, the terrorists reportedly released a video showing an English-speaking child beheading a man accused of violating Sharia law.
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) reported in November 2013 that children as young as three-years-old were being trained for jihad by ISIS’s Afghanistan branch known as the Khorasan Province (ISIL-K/IS-KP).
In April, Reuters revealed that the jihadist group was brainwashing some Yazidi boys to turn against and kill their families.
Some children being trained for ISIS’s suicide bomber program are reportedly as young as 5-years-old.
In March, the U.S. State Department reported that ISIS is increasingly relying on child soldiers to fight its battles.
The terrorist group released a video in December 2015 showing children, identified as as the “Cubs of the Caliphate,” executing prisoners in Syria.
ISIS still controls significant territory in Iraq, including the strategically important Mosul.
However, Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky, a top commander of the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, told Pentagon reporters earlier this week that ISIS in Iraq is “getting weaker,” adding that the terrorist group is losing territory in that country and in Syria.
The U.S.-led coalition began combating ISIS in those two countries back in 2014.
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