Eight Dutch IS militants 'executed' in Syria

The fighters had been caught trying to flee Islamic State-held territory amid an ongoing dispute.

2 min read

01 March, 2016

Disputes between European and local militants led to execution of eight Dutch members [Getty]

Eight Dutch members of the Islamic State group were killed on Monday after being accused of attempting to ditch the notorious militants.

"[IS] executed eight Dutch fighters on Friday in Maadan, Raqqa province, after accusing them of attempted desertion and mutiny," Abu Mohammad, a member of the citizen journalist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), said via Twitter.

RBSS is a citizen journalism group - situated in IS' de facto capital, Raqaa - that has been attempting to expose human rights violations by the militant group since April 2014.

The group says tensions between European and local IS militants has been rising in recent months, after three Dutch fighters were arrested by Iraqi members of the group for allegedly attempting to flee.

Another member was reportedly beaten to death during an interrogation.

The dispute between the two bands led to the death of an IS leader who attempted to mediate between the groups.

The IS leadership responded to the killing by arresting several of its Dutch members, before executing eight in Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights could not confirm the event, but suggested such "executions" were commonplace, pariticularly in the area stretching across the Syrian-Iraqi frontier.

Dutch secret services have confirmed 200 people from the Netherlands, including 50 women, have travelled to the region to join the Islamic State group.