Isis: Beheadings, floggings and amputations routine in IS-held Iraq reports Mosul Eye

The brutal regime implemented by the Islamic State (Isis) regime in the Iraqi city of Mosul has led to beheadings, hand amputations, and public floggings becoming commonplace, activists in the city have claimed.

Death sentences have been carried out for alleged crimes including apostasy, blasphemy, spying, "fornication" and "mockery of the Caliphate" according to the Mosul Eye group, which posts regular Facebook updates from inside the city.

The group, whose claims cannot be verified, has posted details on hundreds of executions, whippings for minor offences, and alleged that 88 thieves have had a hand chopped off in the space of a single month.

One victim was "chopped into small pieces" by IS fighters in the Iraqi city it was claimed, while others were whipped for listing to music and smoking. Little is known about the people behind the posts but on their Facebook page they say it was set up to "communicate what's happening in Mosul to the rest of the world, minute by minute from an independent historian."

With IS tightly controlling information in the city, the blogger claimed that he could face death, along with his "family and all those related to him" were his identity to be revealed in a recent interview with al-Fanar Media.

"I have received many threats from Isis. In the last one they said they would invent a way to kill me that has so far been unknown to humanity," he said.

He added that the "real danger is not in blogging itself, but in getting access to accurate information while maintaining your safety and not revealing your identity." He said he had used multiple identities to stay safe.

While the entire city did not welcome IS, he said the relationship with the Iraqi regime had not been good beforehand. Now he said there "is a state of fear, just like in the times of Saddam Hussein," and people could not even trust their own family members.

"Everything has changed. Gender segregation is imposed everywhere; women are forced to veil their faces, and men must wear long beards. There is a wave of radicalisation among young children, which parents are unable to do anything against."

He nonetheless vowed to keep blogging "until the end" because the international community "needs to know the facts" about what is happening in the city.

As a result he has continued to update the site with detailed information in both English and Arabic, giving names, places and numbers of executions.

In the space of one month this September he recorded a total of 455 executions, providing details about the location, ethnicity and religion of the victims. The data also details coalition air strikes on targets in Mosul.

He also lists the dozens of IS fighters killed in the attacks on their military convoys, ammunition stores and strikes against group leaders and has published photographs of what he claims are 10 of the group's fighters reportedly stating they are "primary suspects" and "wanted for committing war crimes against the people of Mosul."