Islamic State (Isis) militants killed a 15-year-old boy for being gay by throwing him off a roof while the senior Daesh officer he was accused of having relations with was only demoted and sent to the front lines. Local media reported that the execution took place in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, south east of the Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Raqqa on Friday 1 January.

The boy was arrested and charged by IS jihadists with homosexuality after being captured "in the house of an IS leader" who was said to be Abu Zaid al-Jazrawi.

The teenager was subsequently thrown off the roof in a main square of the city whilst the Isis leader was stripped off his position and sent to battlefields in Iraq. The punishment has been implemented dozens of times by Sharia courts since the militants took control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

"The horrific execution took place in front of a large crowd," a local media activist and eyewitness told the Syrian ARA News agency in the city. "The boy was accused of being engaged in a homosexual relation with the prominent Isis officer Abu Zaid al-Jazrawi," media activist Sarai al-Din said.

IS army chiefs are facing depleted numbers since losing ground in Syria and Iraq and the Sharia Court was convinced to send the leader to fight in Iraq instead. IS has lost ground to the Iraqi army in Ramadi, Kurdish forces in northern Iraq and to the Syrian army and associated air strikes in Syria.

"Abu Zaid was forced to leave Syria and join the fighting fronts in northwestern Iraq. The decision has been taken by the Isis leadership," al-Din said.

The punishment is often watched by crowds in the cities in the self-declared caliphate - gay men have also been executed by firing squad by the extremists.