Isis 'beheads teenage boys for listening to pop music and missing Friday prayers'

The boys were beheaded and shot dead respectively as Isis tries to maintain its grip on the city of Mosul, Iraq

Adam Withnall
Thursday 18 February 2016 13:34 GMT
Comments
Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi speaks at the Great Mosque in Mosul
Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi speaks at the Great Mosque in Mosul

The Isis jihadist group has reportedly beheaded a teenage boy for listening to pop music and shot dead two others for missing Friday prayers, as part of a crackdown on personal freedoms in the group's Iraqi stronghold of Mosul.

The incidents, reported by Kurdish media, come with enemy forces lined up within miles of Mosul and with the group having suffered repeated military setbacks across Iraq.

According to ARA News, a 15-year-old boy named Ayham Hussein was caught during a patrol by Isis fighters, listening to music in his father's grocery store.

A spokesman for the Kurdish Nineveh media center was quoted by ARA News as saying the boy was listening to "Western music". "He was referred to the Sharia Court, which issued a decision to execute him."

The boy was reportedly publicly beheaded, before his body was handed to his family on Tuesday evening.

It is impossible to verify the report, but Kurdish media seem to suggest the incident has led to rare public displays of outrage.

The official was quoted as saying it was the first case of its kind documented in Mosul, and there had previously been "no formal decision by the Sharia Court to ban listening to western music".

Separately, ARA News also reported that two young men had been arrested last Friday for failing to attend prayers at the main mosque in Mosul.

Named local activist Abdulah al-Malla said they were shot dead outside the mosque on Sunday, adding: "The execution took place after a member of the Sharia Court read a statement vowing anyone who misses the prayers at the mosque to face the same punishment."

In late January, a 14-year-old was reportedly beheaded on similar charges. Another activist, Nasser Taljbini, said his parents were "forced to witness the beheading of their own son".

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in