Isis in Syria: Levant Front releases mock execution video sparing lives of Daesh fighters
A group of Syrian rebels have released a mock execution video, entitled "Muslims are not criminals," in which the lives of nine captured Islamic State (Isis) fighters are spared. The video, shot in the same style as the Isis (Daesh) execution videos, begins with a number of prisoners "confessing" to their crimes.
The fighters are marched to a deserted location wearing the orange jumpsuits iconic of Daesh execution videos and forced to kneel. Rebel fighters, wearing masks and aiming handguns at the heads of the Daesh prisoners, then take off their masks and holster their weapons.
Following the mock execution, a cleric dressed in a white robe urges the prisoners to repent, saying: "This is not our policy. We are not evil." The nine prisoners were then reportedly returned to prison.
The Independent noted that it is unknown what truly happened to the Daesh fighters after the video is done. The rebel soldiers, who fight for the Levant Front, are known for fighting against Daesh and the Syrian government in besieged Aleppo, The Daily Mail reported.
The Levant Front, also known as Jabhat al-Shamiyya, is an Islamic group dedicated to creating a Syrian state governed by Sharia law. According to The Independent, the Levant Front's leader is a member of the conservative Ahrar al-Sham, a group which US diplomats are not permitted from dealing with.
Fighters of the Levant Front, however, have died fighting the terrorist organisation since its creation in December 2014. Late in November, the group, equipped with weapons from Turkey, recaptured two villages from Daesh in northern Aleppo.
The Levant Front previously published photos of four men it claimed were captured Daesh fighters on its social media profiles. The rebel group said it had dismantled hundreds of mines around the recaptured villages of Delha and Harjaleh. The Syrian Observer reported that a Daesh car bomb killed at least seven members of the Levant Front in Tal Rifaat, Aleppo on 7 December.
Should we cease using Islamic State, Isis or Isil and begin using 'Daesh'?
IS fighters and leaders hate the word - it's an Arabic acronym of "al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi Iraq wa ash-Sham" – meaning the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams – but when spoken Daesh sounds similar to the Arabic words translating to "the sowers of discord" (Dahes) or "one who crushes underfoot" (Daes). IS threatened "to cut the tongue of anyone who publicly used the acronym Daesh, instead of referring to the group by its full name".
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