Mutilated by ISIS... terrified 'thief' has his hand hacked off with a cleaver in front of crowd in the terror group's Syrian 'capital'

 

Militants fighting for the Islamic State in Syria have released sickening images of a young man having his hand hacked off after he was accused of stealing.

The images, understood to have been taken in the terror group's de facto capital Raqqa, show the terrified young man being dragged out onto a public square in front of a bloodthirsty crowd.

 The blindfolded victim is forced to sit in a chair in the centre of the square, where he is held in place by one of the jihadis, while two others use a large meat cleaver to brutally sever his hand from his arm.

The horrific images were shared on the Twitter page of the local activist group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, who work undercover in the city to expose the atrocities committed by ISIS.

The four photographs are high quality shots and carry the distinctive yellow branding of ISIS' Al-Hayat Media Center, suggesting they may be stills from an as-yet unreleased propaganda video.

The first image shows the blindfold and baseball cap-wearing victim being led from a vehicle by three heavily armed Islamic State terrorists, one of whom appears to be no older than 16.

Another shot captures a bearded cleric appearing to read charges against the man - using a microphone and PA system to tell the crowd of sadistic onlookers that the man is accused of stealing.

The victim is then seen pinned in a chair by a separate group of men, one of whom uses a chord to pull his arm taut while two others place a heavy meat cleaver on the top of his wrist, ready to strike.

A final image shows the victim lying on his back in agony on a metal gurney while a man who appears to be a surgeon tends to the injury on his left hand.

The video comes just one day after ISIS released gruesome footage of the murder of a man the terror group accused of working as a spy.

The video was filmed in Aleppo and shows a man believed to be named Ahmed Muhammad being led out to a forecourt by masked executioners, who then shoot him in the head multiple times at point blank range.

In a chilling sign of ISIS' reach and influence, Muhammad is understood to have been accused of working as part of a secret spy network based in neighbouring NATO member state Turkey before his brutal filmed execution over the border in Syria.

Titled 'A Lesson To Be Learned', the three minute 40 second video has all the hallmarks of an official ISIS release - employing HD cameras, Hollywood-style sound and visual effects and slick editing and direction.

It also carries the logo of one of the group's official Aleppo-based propaganda arms, Halab.