ISIS has released a new propaganda video claiming to show the murder of 12 captives near the Syrian capital. The men, wearing orange jumpsuits, are seen kneeling in a field before masked militants force them to the ground and behead them with knives as the black flag of the "Islamic State" flutters in the background. The footage was released by an ISIS affiliate that calls itself the Damascus Province, which is fighting Bashar al-Assad's government and rival rebels for territory around the Syrian capital.
Some activists and analysts online said the men killed were part of an opposing group, possibly Jaysh al-Islam, a competing rebel unit. Images from the gory video were shared on social media sites on Thursday. The video shows the 12 men pinned to the ground in an open field and beheaded using small knives.
Similar to other Isis execution videos, all the captives are dressed in orange suits to resemble prisoners of the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Some Twitter accounts identified the men as members of the Syrian rebel group, Jaish al-Islam, also known as the Army of Islam, which has been fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's army. Isis fighters have been clashing with members of the Jaish al-Islam in the Qalamoun region, and several of the Islamic State jihadists were killed by the rebels recently.
In an audio message on Tuesday, ISIS spokesperson Abu Muhammad al-Adnani urged Sunni Muslims to use the holy month of Ramadan to wage jihad. "Attack (the disbelievers) everywhere and shake the ground beneath them," he said, telling supporters they "may lose a battle or battles and may lose towns and areas, but will never be defeated". It was not possible to verify the recording. Charlie Winter, a researcher at counter extremism think tank the Quilliam Foundation, predicted Isis would be "more active than ever" as the one-year anniversary of the declaration of the Islamic State approaches on Sunday.
