DAMASCUS, SYRIA (0:10 A.M.) – The Islamic State leadership is cracking down on fighters trying to desert the caliphate after Kurdish troops have reached the doorstep of Raqqa city.

On Monday, ISIS reportedly ordered the immediate execution of three of its own members for trying to escape the battlefield in northern Raqqa by abandoning their posts, accusing them of “high treason” and disloyalty to the Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.

The three unidentified ISIS members were executed by a firing squad in downtown Raqqa on Monday afternoon while hundreds of locals witnessed the ordeal.

Al-Masdar News was not able to obtain footage of the alleged execution. However, a gruesome video released by ISIS two days ago showed 19 Kurdish dissidents were either shot dead or beheaded across the border in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are advancing ever closer to Raqqa after liberating four more villages in its countryside on Tuesday.