ISIS fanatics living in fear after jihadi is found throttled to death by a mystery vigilante in Mosul
The terrified militants have arrested 10 people and sent them to an unknown location
ISIS fanatics are said to be living in fear after a jihadi was found throttled to death by a mystery vigilante dubbed the "Mosul Strangler".
The terrified militants have arrested 10 people and sent them to an unknown location in a bid to catch the alleged assassin.
The body of the ISIS fighter was discovered in a ditch in western Mosul, according to the Express.
ISIS members in the area have been placed on high alert and they have imposed a curfew on three residential areas.
The jihadi's death comes just a day after a civilian stabbed an ISIS fighter after refusing to pay a false tax, witnesses say.
Reports have also emerged about how the rotting corpses of ISIS militants have been left to be "eaten by dogs" in Mosul as local military forces wage a psychological war on jihadis.
The Iraqi army says it has no intention of burying them and hopes as many people as possible will get a good look at the bodies, many torn apart by bombs and bullets.
As they prepare to expand their offensive they want to stamp out any sympathy that residents may have for the group, which won instant support when it seized the vast city in 2014.
"We will leave the terrorists there," said soldier Ibrahim Mohamed.
"The message is clear to Iraqis, to keep them from joining or supporting Daesh (ISIS). This will be your fate. The Iraqi army will finish you off."
A suicide bomber's belt, with its detonation pin still in place, lay in the street a few feet away, near some clothing once worn by a militant.
The corpses are left on view as a psychological weapon to deter ISIS sleeper cells, which Iraqi officials say are highly effective and distributed across the country.
Related Stories
Islamic State has executed thousands of Iraqi soldiers and policemen, and their comrades are eager for revenge.
"We leave them in the street like that so the dogs eat them," said soldier Asaad Hussein.
"We also want the citizens to know there is a price for supporting terrorists.";
Iraqi citizens don't seem to mind the gory sight of the bodies, with people walking past them every day as Mosul begins the work of rebuilding neighbourhoods pulverised by car bombs and air strikes.
Local builder Youssef Salim agreed the bodies should not be moved.
"Do you know what smoking one, just one cigarette meant?" he asked. "Twenty-five lashes in a public square where people were forced to watch you suffer.
"If your beard length did not meet their requirements, that was a month in jail and 100 lashes in public."
One of the soldiers stood proudly over the dead men, including one still wearing a suicide belt.
He smiled and pointed to a cigarette stuffed in one of the jihadist's nostrils.
"We put it there because of the terrible things they did to Iraqis," said soldier Asaad Najif.
"The fate of any terrorist is clear. We will find you and kill you."
Last night it was revealed ISIS was making rudimentary chemical weapons at the University of Mosul.
Coalition-backed Iraqi forces took control of the sprawling campus of the university, which ISIS had used as a headquarters during its two-and-a-half-year rule of the city.
Among the many booby-trapped buildings, Iraqi forces found chemicals inside the university, which was heavily damaged in the fighting.
The Iraqis have now run tests on the chemicals and these proved positive for sulphur mustard, Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said.
Mosul university was "central to the ISIS chemical weapons program," said Davis said.
"They have received positive samples; that is indeed what was going on there."
Davis said he was not aware of anyone having been killed by the chemicals.