IS hostage escaped beheader twice and held prisoner by a child

As a black-clad killer took out a knife and rested it against his throat, a hostage said his final prayers, but he was sent a lifeline. WARNING: Disturbing content

WARNING: Disturbing content

A Syrian hostage has told of how he escaped an Islamic State beheading twice — and was held captive by an 11-year-old brainwashed child soldier.

Ani Hussein Mosa, 31, was captured in January by the evil terror group during a sandstorm and taken to Baghuz — the remaining tiny stronghold of the so-called caliphate.

Mosa, on the far right, survived two IS executions including one that was filmed as part of a sick propaganda video.

Because of his skill at smuggling, Mosa claims to be have been captured by the depraved death cult six times since he took up arms against them.

The brave Syrian told his extraordinary story to The Sunday Times including how the blood of another beheaded man splattered over him as he waited to be executed — only to walk away moments later.

He was among dozens of hostages used by desperate IS militants as human bargaining chips.

Some of the men were slaughtered in front of cameras with their grisly deaths posted online as a disgusting negotiation ploy.

IS fighters are currently besieged with bombings and street battles in the last sliver of the land they still maintain in Baghuz in northeast Syria.

A Syrian Democratic Forces soldier runs for cover during shelling on the Islamic State group's last holdout of Baghouz in the eastern Deir Ezzor province in Syria. Picture: Delil Souleiman/AFP

Mosa is part of the powerful Shaitat — a conservative Muslim tribe — that is at war with IS, the militant group the Shaitat view as dangerous fanatics.

The tribe fights alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — the alliance backed by the US and other coalition forces.

Incredibly, Mosa says he has been captured by IS six times and has endured months of torture at the hands of the brainwashed extremists.

Each time he has been freed — once after allegedly being pardoned by self-proclaimed IS caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi after a direct request from his relatives.

Speaking about his capture in January, Mosa said: “They put 53 of us inside a caravan and gave us a sheet of plastic to urinate on.

“There was no air inside. One man got very sick for three days and he died at night.

“The next morning they put him in a grave next to the caravan.

“One day they took five of the prisoners into a house and shot them.”

Kurdish-led forces and US warplanes rain artillery fire and air strikes on outgunned jihadists making a desperate last stand in a Syrian village. Picture: Delil Souleiman/AFP

On Mosa’s first execution experience, militants dragged him into an abandoned building and began filming him.

He knelt alongside three other men dressed in orange outfits.

One man’s throat was cut in front of Mosa by an executioner who was dressed in black.

Mosa told The Times: “They pushed me to my knees and put the knife to my throat. I knew I would die.”

But miraculously, he was dragged to his feet and put back in his cell where he was guarded by a fanatical 11-year-old boy.

One month later, he was again summoned to be executed.

Mosa was one of nine prisoners taken from their dark caravan cell seemingly at random.

When he asked one of the IS fighters: “Where are we going?”, the depraved cult member replied: “To your death.”

They were then driven to the outskirts of Baghuz before Mosa was again thrown down on his knees as an executioner pushed his head into the desert sand.

But as Mosa said his last rites he heard someone shout “run”, and the pressure on his head and back was lifted.

The IS fighters were gone and the prisoners were running towards a ridge where they could see SDF soldiers.

Women and children being evacuated out of the last territory held by Islamic State militants in the desert outside Baghouz, Syria. Picture: AP Photo/Felipe Dana

The terror group had released them as part of a negotiation to temporarily stop the bombing of Baghuz.

Smiling with a grin, Mosa said: “I ran around hugging everyone.

“My life had begun again. I went from death to life in 10 minutes.”

The SDF has negotiated the release of more than 40,000 civilians from IS areas since December, while the talks to free Mosa began three weeks ago.

While the 31-year-old is thankful to have been released, his fight against IS is not over — he insists he still needs his car back from the extremist group because he needs it for work.

This story was originally published on The Sun and was reproduced with permission