Syrian Islamist Militant Group Post Live Updates of Man Having Hand Cut Off as Punishment for Stealing

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

A group of Syrian Islamist militants posted a live-update on Twitter as a man's hand was cut off as a punishment for stealing.

The extremist organisation responsible for imposing the sentence, known as the ISIS - Islamist State in Iraq and Syria - re-tweeted the images to several Jihadi social media channels.

The graphic photos of the incident in the northern town of Maskanah, near Aleppo, show a crowd of people gathering to watch as the alleged thief's hand was cut off.

One of the militants restrained the blindfolded man, as another, wearing a black balaclava stepped forward to cut his hand off with a sword.

A later photo showed the man, seemingly passed out, with his hand severed, the amputated and bloody limb resting on the table.

Several jihadi accounts said the 'thief' had admitted his crimes "and asked that his hand be cut off to cleanse his sins."

The Twitter account that posted the images has now been suspended from the social networking site.

The militant Islamist group an al-Qaeda splinter group was formed in April 2013.

It has become one of the main Jihadist groups and the most radical, fighting government forces in Syria and maintaining control of much of rebel-held Syria in the north.