ISIS crucified at least eight men on electricity poles in its de facto capital of Raqqa, Syria, this past weekend, according to human rights activists.
ARA News reported Monday that the young men who were killed had been detained for nearly a year prior to the executions. Three men executed were charged with attempting to desert the terrorist group while others were accused of violating ISIS rules.
Eyewitnesses speaking on the condition of anonymity told ARA News that extremists shot and killed the eight men before crucifying them on electricity polls situated on a Raqqa highway in northeastern Syria.
An ISIS member read aloud the accusations against the men prior to the executions, according to eyewitnesses.
Another individual was reportedly killed for allegedly spying on behalf of U.S.-led coalition forces.
On Saturday, 35 members of ISIS were arrested in Raqqa. Fifteen were subsequently executed, the International Business Times reported, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an organization based in Britain.
The organization said the crackdown over the weekend was linked to the assassination of senior ISIS official Abu Hija al-Tunisi. Al-Tunisi was killed in an air strike Wednesday.
The onslaught of ISIS killings was likely intended to take out suspected spies, according to the International Business Times.
On Sunday, the U.S. and its allies carried out 24 air strikes against ISIS members in Iraq, Reuters reported. An ISIS fighter who killed a U.S. Marine by rocket fire last month was among those taken out by airstrikes Sunday.