Captured Islamic State fighters urge others to leave group

Islamic State fighters taken captive after fierce battles between IS and the Levant Front, one of the largest Syrian opposition groups in Aleppo, have talked about life with the extremists.

In the video released by the Levant Front, the captured IS fighter Abdullah Musa al-Khalil told of people's anger and discontent in living under IS rule.

Khalil, who holds a degree in Law from the University of Aleppo, said: "People are generally angry and upset because of all the executions they see before their eyes", adding "their crimes are clear to everyone".

The captives also spoke of methods used by IS to force ordinary men into military training before forcing them onto the frontlines to fight Syrian opposition groups within the Aleppo Governorate.

In the interview, Khalil urged other fighters to leave the group "as quickly as possible".

The Levant Front also released documents found on a senior IS fighter that revealed their use of western capital city names as secret codes to communicate during battle.

In the document, Washington, Paris and Rome are used by IS fighters to refer to a number of Syrian villages within the Aleppo Governorate. The village of al-Husun is referred to as London.

Clashes between the Syrian opposition groups and IS around Aleppo have escalated in the previous months, despite advances by the US-backed Syrian Arab Coalition against IS in north-eastern Syria.