ISIS atrocities online

The images are shocking: dead prisoners lie in a pool of blood. Men in civilian clothing lay prone in front of an armed rebel, with the black jihadist flag used by terrorists associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS. The headline of the picture gallery is "Cleansing of hundreds of members of the Safavid army."

"Safavid army" is a derogatory term used by Sunni extremists to describe the Shiite-dominated Iraqi army. Safavid was a Persian dynasty from the 16th century.

It is not known exactly the location being depicted in the pictures. The captions claim they were taken in the northern Iraqi province of Salahuddin, without specifying where. Salahuddin includes the cities of Tikrit and Baiji, which saw heavy fighting between ISIS militants and Iraqi security forces last week. The photographs first appeared on Twitter, and were later also been seen on several major jihadist websites.

ISIS also published a video with similar content. It shows hundreds of men, alleged Iraqi "prisoners of war," being executed - but it is not clear if these were the same men from the photos of the alleged massacre.

Biggest massacre since 2003?

Spokesperson Qassim al-Moussawi of the Iraqi defense ministry confirmed the authenticity of the pictures, and has said that they indeed depict events in the province of Salahuddin. He did not provide any information on the video. However, it is in the interest of the Iraqi government to confirm the atrocities of their opponents.

With the photos, the terrorists are seeking to boast about their triumph. ISIS has without doubt killed many Iraqi and Syrian soldiers in the past years, while also recording and publishing videos of this. Images of handcuffed men in uniforms executed with a shot to the back of the head have nearly become a trademark of the jihadists. If the recently published photographs are real, this would be the largest massacre since the US invasion in 2003.

But caution should still be exercised in assessing the images. ISIS typically scores its videos with heroic or jihadist music, but this is entirely missing here. Additionally, no reactions have been heard from the families of those apparently executed. However, the families could be avoiding speaking out of fear.

Parallels to al-Qaida

The terrorists' atrocities have been known for some time. Even al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has distanced himself from ISIS. "We have no connection with ISIS," he stated in February.

ISIS is not affiliated with al-Qaida. Nevertheless, ISIS' methods are a reminiscent of the first years of terror in Iraq when al-Qaida was the leading terror group.

At that time, their members beheaded Western hostages in front of the camera, hanged bodies from bridges or cut limbs off of their hostages. ISIS branched off from al-Qaida, growing more independent and even increasing the horror of its acts.

Publication of the images generated intense public outrage - it remains to be seen if this trend will continue.