The Islamic State group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), is seeing increasing instances of internal strife, with rebellion and desertion becoming more common as the Islamist outfit continues to lose ground in both Iraq and Syria.
In the latest such instance, the group is said to have executed six of its own men for trying to flee from it and into Syria. According to a report in Iraqi News, the six were killed in Tal Afar in Iraq. The report quoted Kurdistan Democratic Party official Ismat Rajab in Mosul as saying: "The six Isis leaders were executed by their counterparts using flamethrower. They were executed as they tried to escape to Syria."
Isis has been known to be extremely cruel to people, and in a recent instance boiled six people alive in tar after one of its courts convicted them of collaborating with its enemies. While it has not always targeted its own, that changed recently when it killed two of its own leaders in Mosul.
A statement from a local leader had on Saturday, Aug. 20, said: "Isis executed two of its own leaders and transferred four others to Mosul, a day after the were arrested near Hawija, south-west of Kirkuk. They were linked to the Emir of Isis in Kirkuk, who was executed yesterday [Friday]. The Emir was arrested because in an audio recording [in which] he was heard of appealing to the Isis fighters to withdraw and fall back from Hawija."
The statement also said: "On the other hand, Isis detained over 30 of its own men due to the chaos and internal confusion in the ranks of the organisation. Rifts among the leaders have also surfaced and the morale of the fighters have also gone down in the past few weeks."
Mass graves found
Meanwhile, another Iraqi News report quoted a military source in the Anbar province as saying on Tuesday that they had discovered a mass grave that contained the bodies of Isis members in Khalidiya Island near Ramadi.
The report quoted the source as saying: "Security forces discovered a mass grave of Isis members containing 20 bodies. The discovery was made during a search operation in Khalidiya Island, some 23 km to the east of Ramadi."
