Westerners fighting for ISIS are taking part in a sickening circle of violent one-upmanship in order to prove themselves to commanders who consider European militants little more than cannon fodder.

Ranked well below battle-hardened foreign jihadis from warzones such as Chechnya and East Africa, the Westerners believe ultra-violence is the only way to make their name in Syria and Iraq.

This would partly explain why so many Western extremists are eager to take part in the terror group's sickening propaganda releases, such as the seven savage filmed beheading videos featuring depraved British terrorist Mohammed Emwazi, also known by the name Jihadi John.

Militants: Ranked well below battle-hardened foreign jihadis from warzones such as Chechnya and East Africa, Westerners believe ultra-violence is the only way for them to rise up the ranks in Syria and Iraq

Western fighters waging jihad in Syria and Iraq often appear disillusioned by the mundane jobs they are given upon arrival. British militants have previously been known to complain on social media about being ordered to clean toilets or wash the plates of senior terrorists.

By far the most common job for Western jihadis, however, is guarding prisoners.

While some complain that this involves little more than standing bored in a doorway or handing over meals, others have used their unlimited access to these defenceless so-called 'enemies of the state' to build a reputation for the kind of shocking cruelty and sadism ISIS commanders appreciate.

One former prisoner has now revealed that many of the thousands of Europeans who have flocked to join ISIS over the past year have been shocked to find themselves marginalised within an organisation where Iraqi and Saudi nationals rule.

'They come ­expecting a heaven and when they see the reality they are shocked,' a Syrian former prisoner identified only by the name Omar told The Times.

'There is a hierarchy in ISIS and the foreign fighters and the Syrians are at the bottom of it,' he added, revealing that fighters from Tunisia consider themselves the group's military wing, while Saudis are largely dominate religious affairs.

Doomed: The Syrian former prisoner, identified only by the name Omar, revealed he had been held for a short time alongside Kenji Goto before the Japanese journalist (left) was savagely murder by Jihadi John (right)

Flying the flag: It is widely-understood that Britons travelling to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State are so unfit and badly trained that they are used as little more than cannon fodder

Omar, who was sentenced to death and spent six months in an ISIS prison 18 miles north of Aleppo before taking part in a daring but successful jailbreak three-months ago, also revealed that he had been held for a short time alongside Japanese journalist Kenji Goto.

Goto was later transferred to another prison by ISIS' de facto capital Raqqa, before being savagely murdered by the aforementioned Emwazi on January 31.

'There are two ways to prove your allegiance to IS: either by getting married or by carrying out the punishments,' Omar said, using an alternative acronym for the terrorist organisation.

They were merciless - the ­foreign fighters and the ­Syrians treated us the worst because they are the lowest in Isis,' he went on to say.

It is widely-understood that Britons travelling to Iraq and Syria to join Islamist militant group ISIS are so unfit and badly trained that they are used as little more than cannon fodder.

Many of them are unable to communicate in Arabic and when not cleaning and cleaning for senior commanders tend to while away their days on social media where they pretend to be vital cogs in the ISIS wheel for their gullible sympathisers in the West.

Outcast: Many of the thousands of Europeans who have flocked to join ISIS (pictured) over the past year have been shocked to find themselves marginalised within an organisation where Iraqi and Saudi nationals rule

Speaking last year, Peter Neumann - director of the International Centre of Radicalisation at King's College London - said British fighters in particular are poorly rated.

'In a context like ISIS in Syria you have all these battle-hardy Chechens and then you have some fat guy from Luton turning up,' he told the Financial Times.

While many of the European extremists joining ISIS tell their commanders they will be willing killers, very few of them have ever even held a gun by the time they arrive in Syria or Iraq.

Useless in combat and a liability in situations when a simple mistakes can cost lives, the few Westernisers who do make it on to the battlefield are used as little more than cannon fodder.

Leading the line when the odds are stacked against them, or acting as suicide bombers to clear the path for more experienced and important fighters, ISIS commanders convince the young men that their lives on earth are worthless and that to die for the terror group is somehow praiseworthy.