Isis Crucifies Moderate Syrian Rebels in Deir Hafer [WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTO]

Jihadists with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) have crucified eight fighters from a rival rebel group in Syria for their "too moderate" approach to Islam, activists have reported.

The eight men were crucified in the central square of the town of Deir Hafer near Aleppo, and left hanging in public view for three days, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

SOHR said Isis accused the rebels of having joined the so called Awakening Movements, or Sahwa moderate Sunni Muslim militias that are said to be backed by the US.

"Another man was also crucified alive for eight hours by Isis in a public centre in the city of Al Bab on charges of false testimony," said SOHR, which relies on a wide network of activists in Syria and has consistently reported on the conflict in recent years. The man survived the ordeal, SOHR said.

SOHR said that the eight were among the last of some 7,000 people, mostly rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad, who have been killed in fighting among rival groups across the opposition-held territory in northern Syria.

After taking over large swathes of land from government control, Isis - which aims to carve out an Islamic state across Iraq and Syria - has recently shifted its focus to other rebel groups, including al-Qaida local affiliate the Nusra Front.

Isis is known for its brutality and has held public and mass executions in the recent past.

This month the group claimed it had executed more than 1,000 Iraqi soldiers captured during its rapid descent into the country.

Isis took over parts of Fallujah and Ramadi earlier this year and swept through Iraq from the north at the beginning of June, facing little or no resistance from government forces that abandoned key areas of the country.

In another development SOHR said that 14 of more than 140 Kurdish children who were kidnapped by the jihadist group near Aleppo to be trained as suicide bombers have been released.