The Islamic State has executed a seven-year-old little boy for swearing while he was playing soccer with friends in the terror group’s de facto capital of Raqqa in northern Syria.
According to the independent Syrian news source ARA, the boy was killed by firing squad at a central square in Raqqa last Thursday.
He was identified as Muaz Hassan.
A source told the news agency that IS members heard the boy “cursing divinity,” while playing in the street with his friends, and that “the act was considered an insult to the Caliphate, regardless of the age of the boy.”
According to witnesses who spoke to the news service, the boy was shot dead in front of hundreds of people, including his parents, who later collapsed in grief.
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The Islamic State is known for its wanton executions of civilians, activists and journalists on a variety of charges, and has killed persons under 18 before, but Hassan is believed to be the youngest child sentenced to death by the group.
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