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A British sniper saved a man and his eight-year-old son from certain death at the hands of ISIS after shooting dead the man who was about to execute him.

He shot the would-be executioner in the head from a range of 1,000m before taking out three other terrorists.

The father and son, who belonged to the Shia sect whom Isis regard as infidels, were going to be killed because they refused to renounce their faith.

The British snipers had been tipped off by an Iraqi spy and were on the scene in northern Syria close to the Turkish border in time to prevent the killings.

Several headless bodies were lying on the floor when the special forces troops arrived, as Isis militants carried out rigged trials of locals while their friends and family were forced to look on.

As the marksmen watched from a distance the man and the young boy were dragged out blindfolded as a man with a beard and a long knife addressed the terrified crowd.

It was then that the SAS marksman, using a .50 calibre sniper rifle fitted with a silencer, killed the executioner in the incident last month.

A source told the Daily Star Sunday: "The ISIS thug who was about to decapitate the father was shot in the head and collapsed.

"Everyone just stared in confusion. The sniper then dispatched the two henchmen with single shots – three kills with three bullets.

"Someone from the crowd then ran over and untied the father and son’s hands and took their blindfolds off."

The source added the Isis fighters had stared at the bodies and ran and had not returned to the village.

The SAS team was later told the village held a party to celebrate the miraculous rescue of their victims.

SAS teams have fought alongside resistance fighters in both Iraq and Syria for more than a year.