ISLAMIC STATE terrorists staged an Olympic-style competition for terrified civilians as part of a public relations offensive
Surreal photographs captured in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar show fighters from the jihadist group encouraging children to join in party games as part of a spectacle described by witnesses as “very silly”.
Youngsters – some aged just five – can be seen playing musical chairs and tug-of-war, with winners reportedly taking home bags of sweets.
And despite the group’s grim record of perpetrating massacres on European soil, some participants wore Manchester City and Celtic football shirts.
Local sources opposed to the faltering regime claim the event was a desperate attempt to maintain a facade of normality in ISIS’ diminishing heartlands despite crushing defeats at the hands of Western forces.
The jihadists initially gained notoriety with mass public executions and brutal propaganda videos – but the series of images from Tal Afar show an altogether softer public image.
An anti-ISIS dissident said the death cult, also known as Daesh, had leafleted locals and coerced them into joining in the warped PR stunt.
They said: “The games are very silly – running around chairs to music and tug-of-war. The ISIS fighters begin all the games but then get people to join in. Who would dare say no?
“It is a good idea to let the ISIS fighters win too. How knows what might happen otherwise? Your head could be the next one in the dirt.”
The revelations come in the wake of a renewed Western offensive on Mosul, ISIS’ de facto capital in Iraq.
British medical student Rowan Kamal Zine El Abidine was among those who died on Thursday after coalition war planes bombed an ISIS base in the city.
The source added: “They want everyone to come and see the performances – the men and children, that is.
“The women stay away because they do not wish to be seen doing anything that might be deemed inappropriate in public.”
express.co.uk
