New Islamic State Video Claims to Show Young Boy Executing Two 'Russian Spies'

The Islamic State (IS) group on Tuesday released online a new video purportedly showing a boy executing two alleged Russian spies in Syria.

The video, which includes subtitles in Arabic and English, shows a boy and an IS fighter standing behind the two kneeling 'spies', after which the child executioner allegedly shoots both men in the back of their heads with a handgun.

The boy, looking not older than 11-12 years, is interviewed after the purported executions, saying in Kazakh language that he will become a 'mujahid' and fight 'the infidels'.

The alleged spies in the video, identified as Jambulat Mamayev and Sergey Ashimov, say in Russian they were sent to spy on the militant group by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) to assasinate a senior Islamic State commander and gather information about a leader of the jihadist group but were quickly captured.

The authenticity of the video hasn't been confirmed yet.

A FSB official said the security service had no comment on the video when approached by Russia's RIA Novosti. The news agency added the Russian embassy in Damascus has also declined to comment.

A recent study by the Middle East Media Research Institute has revealed the growing use of children by Islamic State in its propaganda videos as well as in military roles but Tuesday's images are the first such graphic use of a child in footage purportedly showing a public execution.

Iraqi security officials have said that the children are being taught the principles of Jihad, or Holy War, at several camps across Iraq and Syria.