The Islamic State released a new propaganda film over the weekend showing the execution of nine men accused of spying at unknown locations in Syria and Iraq, according to a report by the Daily Mail.
ISIS said the killings were a "vengeance for the military operations against them in Syria and Iraq," the Daily Mail reported. It did not give the nationalities or religions of the nine victims.
ISIS also provided a video profile of each of the executed men, who are seen confessing to their "crimes" in Arabic.
A masked ISIS commander is seen talking in a room and moments later, each of the men was photographed. ISIS terrorists are seen tapping at their laptops in one shot.
The accused were interviewed "in which they admit to spying on the terror group's location, movement and armament," according to the Daily Mail.
ISIS has continued its offensives in Iraq and Syria but has experienced some military setbacks in recent days, including the battle for Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein where Iraqi forces have turned back ISIS invaders.
The video showed the men, who were blindfolded with their hands tied to their backs, being led outside the building and escorted by ISIS militants, the Christian Times reported.
They were ordered to kneel. Moments later, the armed men behind them shot them in the backs of their heads.
"They pull the triggers without hesitation, sending their victims jerking forward until their limp bodies hit the dusty ground," the Daily Mail report said.
After the shootings, the screen fades to black with the sound of swords being drawn from sheaths and drumbeats for a Hollywood-style dramatic effect. Then the shootings are played back again in reverse order, this time showing the men falling over, their blood spilt on the ground.
The masked ISIS commander said in the video that the men "were sentenced to death for betraying the religion of Allah."
As is always the case, crimes against Allah equal crimes against the state. There is no separation. The punishment meted out for such crimes is death under shariah law.
This is the same punishment meted out for various vaguely worded crimes against Allah in other shariah-compliant Islamic states, whether it be Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen or Somalia. The only difference is these states do not film their executions and put them on the Internet.
In Saudi Arabia, for instance, the Washington Post reports: "…charges related to religion can often serve quite clear political purposes: Democracy activists Ali al-Demaini, Abdullah al-Hamed and Matruk al-Faleh were originally imprisoned on charges of using 'un-Islamic terminology' -- meaning terms such as 'democracy; and "human rights" -- when they called for a written constitution. The flogging of Badawi came after he was found guilty on vague charges of 'insulting Islam.'"
Lesser crimes, such as stealing, lead to the amputation of one's hand in shariah-compliant Saudi Arabia. Homosexuality is a crime and can be punishable by flogging or death in dozens of Islamic states across the Middle East and Africa, according to the Washington Post.
At the start of the most-recent video, the ISIS commander was quoted as saying that ISIS succeeded in capturing a "cell" of spies who were ordered to monitor their locations to their commanding officer.
"We took the investigation to a judge and after collecting evidence, they were sentenced to death for betraying the religion of Allah," he said.
The Daily Mail said the victims' "nationalities and professions are as yet a mystery, but some of the men look visibly terrified as they speak in trembling Arabic."
The seven-minute propaganda video can be viewed in its entirety at Shoebat.com.