BAGHDAD – The so-called Islamic State killed 45 of their own in a warning to potential defectors. In an attempt to make the executions even more horrifying as a deterrent, they locked their defectors in a freezer for a day.

According Iraqi media agency Al Sumaria News, the 45 defectors attempted to flee the battlefield during recent fights in Iraq. They accused deserters were executed by being locked in morgue freezers in Mosul for 24 hours, left for a slow, presumably agonizing death. Their bodies were reportedly then stretched out along the sides of the road at city entrances to act as a warning to any other fighter who might have second thoughts

Daesh chiefs have to resort to more brutal ways of inducing fear than before, as Iraqi government forces have been retaking major cities and slowly pushing the terrorists towards the Syrian border. Despite that, and government’s continuous attempts to tighten the security in the capital, the militant group manages to explode explosive-rigged cars in the middle of Baghdad once in awhile, even targeting Shi’ite mosques.

As the terror group loses territory to its opponents as well as cash due to air strikes on their oil infrastructure, many of its fighters have deserted. Daesh often subjects captives to horrific and elaborate execution methods — and films them as part of their propaganda campaign. According to media reports, their savage methods include drowning men in a cage in a swimming pool, strapping explosives to the heads of kneeling men connected by wires and burning hostages alive in cages.