The Islamic State (ISIS) made a new addition to its lengthening list of brutal execution methods as it used red-hot welding iron and rods to put to death six boys accused of being a part of a rival militant faction in Mosul, a local source told Iraqi News last week.
"The youths were first handcuffed and then a welding machine and a welding rod was used to kill them," the source said, adding that the execution was done in front of a large gathering.
The source told Iraqi News that the boys were executed in that manner because the ISIS wanted "to create a state of fear and panic among the people."
Three other boys also drew the ire of ISIS leaders after they were caught playing soccer, which is banned in ISIS-controlled territories, another local source revealed.
Fortunately for these three boys, they were not sentenced to death and only received 30 lashes each as punishment.
"ISIS men arrested three young men for playing football, one player wearing a [Lionel] Messi shirt in Martyrs' Park in downtown Mosul," the source said, adding that the militants tore the boy's jersey of the Argentine-born soccer star.
The ISIS leadership has ruled that soccer is incompatible with Islamic law. Last January, ISIS militants reportedly killed at least 13 teenagers in Mosul simply for watching the Iraq vs. Jordan Asian Cup Australia soccer match, according to The Christian Post.
Worse, the militants left the bodies of the murdered teens lying on the street for the public to see. Not even their parents were able to pull their children's bodies from the street, a local source said.
In the latest ISIS atrocity, a local source in Nineveh province informed Iraqi News on Saturday that the jihadis beheaded 25 civilians.
The source said the civilians were slaughtered like animals. "The civilians were first hanged by their legs with hands handcuffed and then their throats were slit, separating their heads from the bodies," the source said.
Those executed were charged with cooperating with the Iraqi forces, he added.
