The Islamic State (Isis) is believed to have executed two boys, aged under 18, for breaking the Ramadan fast.

The victims' bodies were reportedly left hanging at a central place in the village of Mayadeen, which is located in Syria's Deir Ezzor province, apparently to deter others from eating.

The youths, whose ages were not immediately clear, were accused of eating during Ramadan "without religious justification".

Ramadan, the ninth month according to Islamic calendar, is considered holy by Muslims and they are expected to observe fasting.

A placard saying that they had broken the Ramadan fast was hung around their necks.

"IS terrorists hanged the two boys in a square in central Mayadeen for eating during Ramadan," an eyewitness told ARA news.

"The victims remained hanged in the public square until Monday evening. Nobody was allowed to approach their corpses."

Some reports suggest the youths were left hanging by their wrists and not hanged by their necks.

"The children have been suspended by ropes from a pole since noon, and they were still there in the late evening. Apparently, they were caught eating," Rami Abdel Rahman, the chief of Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, told AFP, which earlier reported the boys were hanged but later issued a correction.

If confirmed, this will not be the first time the insurgent group, which has captured vast territories in Syria and Iraq, has carried out its brutal method of killing citing the Islamic Shariah law.