Islamic State executes, crucifies 'apostate'

Damascus: The Islamic State jihadist group has publicly executed and crucified a man in Syria's Aleppo province for alleged apostasy, ARA News website said Friday quoting activists and witnesses. Twenty-eight-year-old Hussein Muhammad was executed by gunfire on Thursday, and his corpse was strung up on an electricity pole in central al-Bab, ARA News reported. Hundreds of al-Bab residents gathered on Thursday to watch the execution, ARA News said, citing activists. "The victim's body will remain crucified for three days, and IS has warned that anyone who tries to remove it will be mercilessly punished,” rights activist Ahmed al-Beik was cited as telling ARA News. A Shariah court sentenced Muhammad to death for apostasy after he was reportedly arrested earlier this week by IS religious police in al-Bab city in the northern countryside of Aleppo province. “The Sharia Court accused Muhammad of apostasy for refusing to join prayers at the mosque,” a media activist was quoted as telling ARA News in al-Bab, speaking on condition of anonymity. “A Sharia judge decided to execute and crucify the man in public, claiming he was an apostate who refused to perform Sharia duties and violated the basic laws of the Caliphate,” the source reported. IS militants publicly beheaded four young Syrian men in the eastern Deir ez-Zor province town of al-Bukamal on Wednesday for "supporting enemies of the Caliphate”, according to local sources cited by ARA News. IS has executed over 2,350 Syrian civilians since it declared an Islamic 'Caliphate' across swathes of Syria and Iraq in June 2014, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said on Friday.