Syrian activists say jihadists beheaded fellow rebel by mistake after believing him to be a Shia

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Syrian jihadists have mistakenly beheaded a wounded fellow Islamist fighter, according to opposition activists.

Rami Abdurrahman of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and another activist in the northern province of Aleppo said al-Qaida-linked fighters of the Islamic state in Iraq and the Levant found the wounded rebel in a hospital after a battle with government forces on Wednesday.

They said he was moaning phrases typical of Shia. Shia muslims in Syria and its neighbours have fought on behalf of President Bashar Assad, who comes from an offshoot of the sect.

The fighters later displayed the man's head before a crowd in Aleppo city. But residents identified it as belonging to a leader of another hardline Islamist rebel group, Ahrar al-Sham.