Photo of boy, 7, holding severed head is ‘barbaric’

The photograph of a young boy holding the decapitated head of a slain Syrian soldier and published in Australian media underscored the barbarity of Islamist State militants, Australian prime minister Tony Abbott said.

The image was posted on Twitter and showed the boy, believed to be the son of Sydney jihadist Khaled Sharrouf, The Australian newspaper said, adding that the boy was aged seven.

The image was taken in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa and was posted last week on the Twitter account of Sharrouf, Australia’s most wanted terrorist who fled to Syria last year and is now an Islamist State fighter.