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Islamic State killers have executed more than 20 of their own fighters who tried to flee a war zone.

The Daesh extremists rounded up the group and publicly beheaded them after they tried to escape fighting in Iraq ’s northwestern province of Nineveh.

The executions are thought to be designed to scare other fighters into remaining at their posts

An anonymous source told Ara News : "The dissidents were arrested at a checkpoint in the vicinity of Mosul on Friday evening.

"After being identified as fighters who have left their positions at the fighting front in western Mosul, they were transferred to the Sharia Court for prosecution.

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(Image: Alamy)

"Subsequent to a brief interrogation, the Sharia Court decided to behead the dissidents on charges of treason.

The jihadis were beheaded in front of hundreds of people in the centre of Msoul.

The brutal punishment has caused "a state of panic" among Isis troops.

Islamic State considers any who leaves their post without permission a traitor and enemy of its 'caliphate'.

In December ISIS beheaded at least 10 of its own fighters after the abandoned their posts on the battlefront without permission, according to reports.

The terrorist group arrested and convicted the men of 'high treason' before executing them in a public square in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul , according to ARA News .

A source told the news agency they had deserted their posts amid clashes between ISIS and Kurdish Peshmerga forces.