Isis police leader found beheaded

A top figure in Islamic State’s self-declared police force, which has carried out beheadings, was himself found decapitated in eastern Syria, a monitoring group said.

The man was an Egyptian national and was known as the deputy “emir” of the al-Hesbah force in a Syrian province, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

His body, which showed signs of torture, was found near a power plant in al-Mayadeen city in the Deir-al-Zor province, it said, citing contacts on the ground.

“We do not know whether Islamic State killed him or whether it was local people or other fighters,” said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory, which reports on events in Syria through a network of contacts on the ground.

“Either way it is important, because he was a very important man,” he said, adding that he believed it was the first time that an al-Hesbah member had been killed in this way.

Islamic State, an offshoot of al-Qaeda which has drawn in foreign fighters and is also known as ISIL or ISIS, has seized land in Syria and neighboring Iraq. It has been the target of US-led air strikes in both countries since September.

The Observatory said the message “This is evil, you Sheikh” was found written on the corpse, which had a cigarette in its mouth. Residents in areas controlled by Islamic State have said the group has banned smoking in public.

Islamic State has fought with other insurgents and cracked down on local populations. It has also killed its own members for what it describes as violations.

Residents and activists say it has beheaded and stoned to death many people in areas it controls for being enemy fighters or for actions they see as violating their reading of Islamic law, such as adultery and blasphemy.

In December, a similar self-declared police force in western Syria decapitated four men after accusing them of blasphemy, according to the Observatory.

They also reported yesterday that unknown assailants also tried to kill two IS militants in al-Mayadeen city.

Meanwhile, a suicide blast targeting Iraqi security forces and subsequent clashes with IS extremists have killed at least 23 troops and pro-government Sunni fighters in the country’s embattled western province of Anbar, officials said.

The day’s heavy toll for the Iraqi forces came as try to claw back territory lost to the extremists during the IS blitz last year.

Police officials said a suicide bomber first struck a gathering of pro-government Sunni fighters near the town of al-Baghdadi, about 180km north west of Baghdad, in the morning hours.

Soon after, IS militants attacked nearby army and police positions, setting off hours-long clashes. Police and hospital officials said 23 were killed and 28 were wounded in all on the government side.