Militant fighters of ISIS executed a journalist and a member of the Nineveh police forces in Mosul city in the Iraqi northwestern province of Nineveh, local sources reported Sunday.

The rights activist Khalid Musilli said: “Subsequent to several months of detention, ISIS militants executed Saturday the Iraqi journalist Ayham Khazaal, who was working as a broadcaster in the local television of Sama al-Mosul.”

“Daesh has also brutally executed Nashwan Khazaal, the journalist’s brother, who was serving as a member of the Nineveh police forces in the region,” Musili said, using an acronym for ISIS.

Both brothers were accused of spying for Iraqi security forces, according to the same source.

“The victims were shot dead in front of a crowd of people in western Mosul,” an eyewitness said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The source confirmed that both victims were arrested together in the northern city of Mosul several months ago and tragically killed in public in front of dozens of people.

The execution was carried out at Qasim al-Khayat Square west of the city, and some residents handed over corpses of the two brothers to the forensic medicine.

“A member of the ISIS-led Sharia Court, who recited the death sentence in public, threatened to hunt what he called ‘all spies’ of Iraqi forces in the region, including journalists and aid volunteers,” he reported.

Journalists and media activists are main targets for ISIS fighters, who view reporters as spies for the western powers, leaking security information about the militants’ positions in the region.

In July 2015, the extremist group executed more than 25 Iraqi journalists in Nineveh province. In August 2015, ISIS militants executed the journalist Sabah Muhammad and photographer Walid Abdullah, who worked for al-Musiliyah channel in Mosul, on charges of violating the group’s regulations; Abna24 reported.

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