ISIS Commander in 'Shock Factor' Video of Boy Executing Spies Reportedly Killed Days Later
The ISIS commander who appeared in a propaganda video earlier this week that showed a young boy executing two Russian spies on camera was reportedly killed days later in the Syrian city of Kobane, sources have said.
The Independent said that the man, identified as Abu Sa'ad al-Daghistani, is believed to have died in the city that finds itself heavily under siege in a major battle between ISIS and local fighters.
Charlie Winter, a researcher of jihadism in Syria and Iraq at the Quilliam Foundation, said that the terror group made it known earlier this week that al-Daghistani had died.
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The propaganda video released through social media shows footage of a young boy firing a gun directly at two men kneeling on the ground, after which they fall lifeless. The rest of the video serves as a call for action for ISIS fighters, and refers to its child soldiers as "lion cubs."
ISIS is known for running several training camps for young children in Syria, where boys are taught to use guns and kill people.
Winter said that ISIS used a boy in their latest propaganda video as a shock factor.
"Whether it is real or staged, [ISIS] used a young child in this video for the shock factor, and the shock factor alone," he offered.
"Its propagandists have done it before — showing images of children training as soldiers and being kicked in the stomach in martial arts drills — but this latest video marks a departure from past norms."
MailOnline also said that news of al-Daghistani's death has been circulating on Twitter, but the full details about how he was killed have not yet been made clear.
Despite ISIS allocating a great deal of effort in taking over Kobane, as they have much of the territory across Iraq and Syria, the town on the border with Turkey so far remains under the control of Kurdish forces.
On Thursday, new Peshmerga forces prepared to leave Erbil in Iraq and travel to Kobane to replace their counterparts who've been fighting ISIS since December, Rudaw reported.
A Peshmerga commander revealed that as much as 85 percent of the city has been cleared from ISIS' presence, though the jihadists have not yet been pushed back entirely.
Close to 1,000 ISIS fighters are believed to have died in the battle for Kobane, which has stretched over four months and left much of the city empty.
