ISIS PR machine was well-aware of the stir its chilling footage would cause, even before the gruesome images was circulated online
Even by the sick standards of the Islamic State - whose fighters have tortured, beheaded, executed, crucified and stoned its victims - yesterday's brutal execution of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh plunged to new depths.
The shocking video, released yesterday afternoon, shows the captured airman trapped in a cage, being engulfed by a trail of flames, in gruesome footage which sent shockwaves around the globe.
And it appears the ISIS PR machine was well-aware of the stir the execution footage would cause, even before the disturbing images were circulated online.
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Horror: The video, which is ISIS' most sickening yet, begins by showing Moaz al-Kasasbeh being paraded in front of heavily armed men wearing combat fatigues and yellow masks
Brutal: The footage, which is titled 'Healing the Believers Chests' appears to show the captured airman wearing an orange jumpsuit as a trail of petrol leading up to the cage is seen being set alight
Just ten minutes after the video was released, the jihadist group published a checklist of justifications, in a bid to encourage ISIS supporters to defend the barbaric actions.
The post, uploaded onto pro-ISIS jihadi forum Al-Platform, offered guidance to ISIS sympathisers over what they should say if questioned about the merits of the brutal murder.
In the post, entitled 'Moaz Was Burnt Alive, Below Is the Islamic Justification for Such an Act', it gives a list of apparent defences which it says might be in accordance with Islamic principles.
Barbaric: An ISIS extremist lights a trail of petrol leading to the cage in which the 26-year-old stands
ISIS PR machine was well-aware of the stir its chilling footage would cause, even before the gruesome images was circulated online
Extremists then pour debris, including broken masonry, over the cage, which is later flattened by a bulldozer.
In the advisory post, it says people were 'going to ask themselves whether or not this is approved by religion', vocativ reports.
But it then adds: 'Most scholars think nowadays it is fine to burn the victim.'
The post does not provide any clear religious basis for the execution, but other forum members later commented on the post with their own selection of religious justifications.
The pilot was captured in December by triumphant ISIS fighters when his F-16 jet crashed near the group's Syrian headquarters of Raqqa during a US-Coalition led airstrike
It is not the first time the militant group has published guidance for its followers on such sickening subject.
In December, the group released what appears to be a pamphlet providing its followers with guidelines on how to capture, keep and sexually abuse female slaves.
Among the most shocking rules were that it is 'permissible' to rape a female slave 'immediately after taking possession of her' and that it is 'permissible to have intercourse with the female slave who hasn't reached puberty if she is fit for intercourse'.
The pilot was captured in December by triumphant ISIS fighters when his F-16 jet crashed near the group's Syrian headquarters of Raqqa during a US-Coalition led airstrike.