“The ISIL (Daesh/ISIS/IS) military leadership has publicly beheaded 12 of its own militants for evacuating their posts at the battlefront in Eastern Syria without permission,” a Raqqa-based media activist said, ARA News reported.

“The militants were executed on Tuesday evening in front of hundreds of people in Central Raqqa,” the source said.

There have been frequent reports that ISIL has executed fighters and civilians for attempting to flee its territory in Syria and Iraq, or for alleged spying.

ISIL is facing growing pressure from the US-led coalition forces and the Iraqi military in its self-declared capital in Mosul, and in Syria from Kurdish YPG forces and the Turkish offensive that began on 24 August; FNA reported.

Last week ISIL released a video reportedly shot in Deir Ezzur, where a fierce battle has raged with Syrian army troops, in which it showed the brutal killing of 15 civilians, including children.

The video was removed several times from social media, but was reported to show executions as “sacrifices” for the Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday.

In March, ARA News reported that ISIL publicly executed eight Dutch nationals, who had joined the group in 2015, for expressing opposition.

ISIL’s “sharia court” ordered the execution of the foreign militants in public.

The militants were arrested at a checkpoint while trying to escape Raqqa, ARA reported.

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