ISIS stones two “gay men” to death

Two men have been stoned to death in Syria by jihadists of the Islamic State (ISIS). The group claimed they were gay, before killing them to mark the sect’s first executions for alleged homosexuality.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday: “The IS today stoned to death a man that it said was gay”

The Britain-based Observatory said the man was about 20 years old and that he was killed in Mayadeen in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, near the border with Iraq.

According to the NGO, IS claimed it found videos on his mobile phone showing him “practising indecent acts with males”.

The Observatory also said that an 18-year-old was also stoned to death in a separate incident in the same city. He was also accused of being gay.

Activists on social media said that the murdered men were opponents of IS and that the group had used the allegation as a excuse to kill them.

IS has carried out several executions by stoning of women in Syria it accused of adultery.