A teenager in Aleppo, Syria, was reportedly executed for claiming that he would never embrace Islam -- an offense that was seen by Muslim extremists as a "curse" on the Prophet Muhammad.
In a report published by ABC.net.au, it is stated that Mohammad Qataa, a 15-year-old street vender who sold coffee, was overheard saying, "Even if the Prophet Mohammad comes down (from heaven), I will not become a believer."
It was these words, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an England-based organization, that led radicals to shoot Qataa in the face and neck, killing him. This violent and graphic murder was apparently performed in front of a crowd of people -- a collective that included the boy's parents.
A young fighter of the jihadist group Al-Nusra Front poses with a weapon on April 2, 2013 in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
While arguing with someone, the teen apparently made his initial anti-Islam comments. Once these statements about the Muslim faith reached the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a radical group associated with the Nusra Front (an al-Qaeda affiliate), his tragic fate was sealed.
ABC.net.au has more about what unfolded:
The observatory says the Islamists took Qatta on Saturday and brought him back alive in the early hours of Sunday, with whiplash marks visible on his body."People gathered around him and a member of the fighting brigade said: 'Generous citizens of Aleppo, disbelieving in God is polytheism and cursing the prophet is a polytheism. Whoever curses even once will be punished like this'," the observatory said.
"He then fired two bullets from an automatic rifle in view of the crowd and in front of the boy's mother and father, and got into a car and left."
Fighters of the jihadist group Al-Nusra Front stand on the top of a pick-up mounted with a machine gun during fightings against the regime forces on April 4, 2013 in the Syrian village of Aziza, on the southern outskirts of Aleppo. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
While the boy's parents purportedly pleaded that the murderers not take their son's life, their desperate pleas went unheard.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights released a graphic photo of the boy's deadly injuries; due to its graphic nature, we did not include it in this article -- but it can be seen here (caution: graphic).
(H/T: ABC.net.au)
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