Tens of thousands of propaganda leaflets have been dropped at the centre of the Islamic State power base in a bid to destabilise the extremist group.

The Pentagon-led operation saw 60,000 leaflets depicting a cartoon of ISIS recruits dropped in Raqqa in Syria - considered to be at the centre of IS operations.

Each leaflet depicts would-be jihadists being fed into a meat grinder by malevolent militants, with blood on their hands. The line of recruits cower from the militants as they attempt to entice them towards the grinder.

Propaganda leaflets, depicting ISIS recruits being fed into a meat grinder, have been dropped by the Pentagon in Raqqa, the self-proclaimed ISIS capital in Syria, in a bid to destabilise the extremist group

The propaganda, created by Military Information Support Operations, is aimed at destabilising connections within ISIS.

'It's trying to set the stage for an internal uprising against ISIS,' Nicholas Heras, an expert on ISIS at the Center for a New American Security told USA Today.

The leaflets were dropped by an Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter, which dropped a specialized leaflet-dispenser bomb for the first time in Syria, according to Air Force spokesman Colonel Tadd Sholtis.

A sign on the leaflet says 'Daish Recruiting Office' with 'Daish' another word used to describe Islamic State. The same word appears on the meat grinder.

Another sign reads 'now serving 6001', and the new ISIS recruit at the front of the queue is shown dropping his ticket number as he is encouraged to step forward by one of the militants.

Yesterday the US launched airstrikes against targets in Tikrit in Iraq to support Iraqi ground forces trying to push IS militants out of the country. The strikes began on Wednesday and are understood to be ongoing.

The US has hundreds of military advisers in Iraq helping its security forces plan operations against the Islamic State, which occupies large chunks of northern and western Iraq.

In contrast to traditional drops, forces used a specialised leaflet-dispensing bomb to drop the propaganda

Iraqi security forces and Shiite militias have battled ISIS militants in Tikrit, where smoke was seen yesterday

The leaflet drop is said to be a softer tactic being used by American forces to try and destabilise ISIS, as news of problems within the group emerge with some fighters reluctant to take part in fighting in Kobani, on the border with Turkey.

Propaganda is already widely used to give daily updates about air strikes in Syria, but the Pentagon has typically kept its releases more low key.

ISIS also makes use of propaganda itself, producing weekly and daily news bulletins about successful strikes and action in the country. This week the group also produced an 'idiots guide' to travelling to Syria.