The radical Takfiri insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) also murdered the man’s son, his grandson, his great-granddaughter, and her mother, an AFP report said, citing the opposition-linked Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The killing took place as ISIL attacked the Syrian village of Zanuba in Hama governorate.

"Some members of the family were burned alive, others killed in their sleep," the Observatory added.

According to the UK-based opposition institution, the family was from the minority Alawite group, to which Syrian President Bashar Assad belongs.

The al-Qaeda-linked ISIL, notorious for its frequent involvement in brutal beheadings and crucifixions, is described as the most ferocious terrorist group fighting the Syrian government.

ISIL terrorists are most active in Iraq and Syria and is comprised of members of multiple nationalities. They have claimed responsibility for countless terror bombings and mass killings in both countries.

ISIL’s ruthless tactics, jihadist objectives, and foreign contingent have made them the enemies of the moderate Syrian rebels who now have to fight both government forces and the radicals.

Recently, a senior commander of anti-Damascus opposition force called “Free Syrian Army” said that British nationals in Syria make up the majority of the foreign members of ISIL.

“They are not freedom fighters. They are terrorists. We, the Syrian people now experience beheadings, crucifixions, beatings, murders, outdated methods of treating women, an obsolete approach to governing society. Many who participate in these activities are British,” Free Syrian Army’s Brigadier-General Abdulellah Basheer wrote in a letter to The Times.

According to Basheer, the group is predominantly foreign, with other terrorists hailing from France, Germany, and Belgium, as well as a range of countries across the Middle East and Africa.

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