Al Qaeda jihadists 'red-faced' after mistakenly beheading own cadre Syrian rebel

Al Qaeda-linked jihadists have admitted beheading a Syrian rebel fighter after mistakenly assuming him as an Iraqi Shiite fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a video was posted on the internet showing two members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) holding up a bearded man's head before a crowd in central Aleppo, Sky News reports.

The UK-based watchdog's chief Rami Abdel Rahman said that the man was identified as Mohammed Marroush, a fighter with rebel group, Ahrar al Sham, which is an ISIL ally.

According to the report, he was wounded in fighting at a regime military base east of Aleppo and was taken to hospital for treatment.

While in his drugged state, he repeated names of two honored Shiite imams, Ali and Hussein, when the two ISIL men presumed him to be a Shiite fighter and captivated him.

ISIL later announced that one of its men, a Tunisian, had been arrested for decapitating the man and was referred to their Islamic court.

However, the second man, who is also a foreign fighter from the Gulf, has not been detained yet.