ISIL Executes Three Chinese Militants Attempting to Flee Group

The jihadist group executed 120 of its members who tried to escape from Syria and Iraq, including three Chinese citizens. Some 300 Chinese militants are reportedly fighting alongside ISIL.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Islamic State executed three Chinese militants fighting for the jihadist group who attempted to flee the organization, the Global Times newspaper said Thursday citing a Chinese official.

"Over the last six months, the Islamic State group has executed 120 of its own members, most of whom had tried to escape from Syria and Iraq, including three Chinese citizens, among others,” an official in charge of security in the Xinjiang region told the newspaper.

One of the Chinese citizens was arrested, tried and killed in September 2014, according to the newspaper.

The two others were executed in December, together with 11 other militants from six different countries, the source told the Global Times.

Some 300 Chinese militants are fighting alongside the Islamic State, according to the news outlet.

The Islamic State jihadist group took control of large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014. The group has become notorious for committing human rights atrocities, mainly against local people in territories it controls. It has grabbed worldwide media attention for multiple human rights atrocities, including executing journalists, aid workers and civilians.

Western intelligence officials estimate around 20,000 foreign fighters from 50 different nations have joined ISIL in Syria and Iraq over the past two years.