Islamic State 'uses child recruit to kill Russian spies'

The Islamic State group has apparently used a child recruit to kill two men accused of spying for Russia.
 
Video and photographs released by the group this week purporting to show a boy of about 10 shooting two men in the back of the head with a handgun.

The video, subtitled in Arabic and English, carries apparent confessions by the two men. An adult fighter states the men were "in the custody of young lions" - the name given to IS child recruits - before the boy apparently shoots them. The location and date of the video is unknown.

According to Foreign Policy magazine, the boy was filmed in another IS video last year which focused on child recruits from Khazakhstan.

The verification newswire, Storyful, however noted that no blood spatters or entry wounds were seen in the latest video, although the service said that did not mean the video was faked.

Nusra executes woman for adultery

Meanwhile in another video released this week, fighters of the al-Qaeda affiliate Nusra Front are seen killing a woman for adultery.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the video  shows a woman being tied up before being shot dead in a square in Maaret Masirin, Idlib province.

A crowd of civilians and fighters are seen watching, as a the woman is accused of "corrupting the earth, and adultery".

An adult fighter states the men were 'in the custody of young lions'.

The observatory said she was among 14 people executed for alleged adultery or homosexuality in Syria since July. Half of that number were women.

Other cases of execution documented by the observatory include a man accused of adultery who was stoned to death by Nusra and other groups in the town of Saraqeb in Idlib.

The rival IS group is also accused of executing several women and men for alleged adultery or homosexuality.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said that more executions might have taken place elsewhere in Syria that were not documented.

Al-Araby al-Jadeed was unable to independently verify the content of the Nusra video.