IS releases new footage showing five young boys executing prisoners in Syria

A propaganda video released on Friday night by the terrorist group IS appears to show five boys aged between 10 and 12, executing Kurdish prisoners.

The footage, which is believed to have been shot recently in the vicinity of the city of Raqqa, shows the children dressed in desert camouflage and holding pistols while standing behind a row of men wearing orange jumpsuits. The video goes on to show the five children shooting the prisoners.

While the identity of the children is not known, the video states that the name of one of the boys is Abu Abdullah al-Britani, a war name used to signify British jihadis. The other children are said to be of Tunisian, Egyptian, Uzbeki and Kurdish origin.

Earlier this week another child aged 12 detonated his suicide belt outside a Shiite mosque in the city of Kirkuk in Iraq while a second boy of the same age was apprehended before he could set off his.

IS has dedicated a significant amount of resources to the indoctrination of children who are becoming more useful as the group continues to lose fighters and territory within its so-called caliphate.