ISIS' Reign of Terror: 17 Men Crucified, Mutilated for Apostasy; Woman Stoned to Death for Adultary
The Islamic State's execution spree picked up dramatically last week, as the militant group released its latest round of execution photos. Along with photos showing the execution of two gay men, an adulteress and two bandits in Iraq, the group has also reportedly crucified and executed 17 men accused of fighting against the caliphate.
In releasing its latest wave of execution photos on an Islamic State-affiliated JustPaste.It account, photos show a muslim crowd gathered around a tall brown brick building in the ISIS Iraqi stronghold of Mosul that looks to be many storeis high. In the following photographs, two men were forced to the roof of the building and were hurled over the edge by two ISIS militants.
A subsequent picture captured one of the victim's freefall and another photo showed their lifeless bodies laying on the dirt ground.
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Before the executions, the charges against those who would be executed on that occasion were announced by a masked militant holding a small handheld radio. According to The Daily Mail, the masked militant announced that the two men were accused of engaging in homosexual acts, which is a strict violation of Sharia law and punishable by death.
As hundreds of people gathered to watch the execution, Vice News reports that the Arabic caption included with one of the pictures showing the crowd translates to "The Muslims come to watch the application of the law."
This is not the first time that the Islamic State has executed gay people by throwing them off the top of a building. In December, photos showed eight ISIS militants in Wilayat al-Furat executing a gay man by throwing him off the roof of a three-story apartment building.
In November, ISIS released photos showing gay men being stoned to death. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights states that the November stonings were ISIS' first public executions of homosexuals.
Also included in ISIS' latest round of photo executions, the Daily Mail states that the masked militant announced the execution of two bandits and one veiled woman accused of adultery.
Photos showed the two bandits being transported in the back of a pickup truck, while standing trapped with their wrists tied down to metal cross-like structures. The two men were taken out of the back of the pickup truck and placed before the crowd. Then, two militants shot them in the back of the head. The last photo of the bandits shows their lifeless bodies hanging from the crosses.
Photos show that the woman who was stoned to death for adultery was taken away from the large crowd and executed in a secluded wooded area that appears to be outside of the city.
The first photo shows a bearded ISIS official reading the charges against the woman. The next photo shows ISIS militants pelting the woman with large rocks as she lie on the ground in the fetal position. The final photo shows the militants corralling her dead body with a blue tarp.
Last week, the group also executed 17 men from the Syrian province of Deir Ezzor. Eleven of the men were accused of apostasy for fighting against ISIS. After being killed the bodies of the 17 victims were brutally mutilated by the militants.
The Syrian Observatory believes that the latest round of ISIS executions has come in retaliation for recent assassinations of ISIS officials.
"The Islamic State group has executed 16 men in Deir Ezzor and one more in Raqa, to send a message to all their opponents after recent assassinations of 12 Syrian, Iraqi and Algerian jihadists," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Director Rami Abdel Rahman. "ISIS is sending a message to all people living under its control, to say: 'This is what will happen to any opponent.'"
