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The unknown man killed by a masked executioner in a village just outside Raqqa.
Islamic State, February 9, 2015
Beheaded for Witchcraft: Latest ISIS Execution
Original source
Militants fighting for the Islamic State in Syria have publicly beheaded a man for allegedly practicing witchcraft - the latest in a long line of barbaric executions carried out by the terror group.
The unknown man was photographed being killed by a masked executioner in a village just outside ISIS' stronghold and de facto capital Raqqa while a large crowd looked on.
Precise details of the victim's so-called crime are not known, but the charge of witchcraft and 'invoking magic', and the use of an axe and wooden chopping block to carry out the beheading do little to counter claims that ISIS are little more than murderers with a Dark Age view of the world.
The beheading of the man, who has a long grey beard, bald head and appears to be in his 60s, took place in a rural area named Aldbsa, to the west the city of Raqqa.
Photographs of the execution and the crowds who watched it were released by ISIS-affiliated media, and were reported by Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently - an anti-ISIS activist group based in the city who document the terror group's barbarism in its de facto capital.
One image shows the elderly man being led to the execution site by militants, including one who appears to be a young teenager. Around the group are masked militants wielding assault rifles.
Another image shows a bearded cleric reading out the charges against the man, before a third photograph shows him kneeling on the floor with his arms bound behind his back, his head resting on the chopping block and the axe just millimetres from his neck.
A fourth and final image shows a crowd of dozens of onlookers pressed up against metal railings so they can get a closer look at the gruesome scene.
The witchcraft execution came just days after images were released on a blindfolded man was seen being thrown to his death from a building inside Raqqa after being accused of homosexuality.
The shocking images appeared to show ISIS militants hurling the man off the seven-storey building in the town of Tal Abyad in Raqqa, supposedly in punishment for him having a 'homosexual affair'.
The man apparently survived the fall, but was stoned to death by a waiting crowd at the foot of the tower block.
Photographs of the incident appear to show the man - who is thought to be in his 50s - sat on a white, plastic chair while blindfolded. He is surrounded by at least two masked militants, who are dressed in black clothing and army fatigues.
The man is then thrown from the top of the tower block and one photograph shows him falling towards the ground, head first.
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