Jihadist jail for Syrians who wear skinny jeans

Isis (Islamic State) militants in the northern Syrian province of Raqqa have threatened to jail any young man wearing skinny jeans, smoking or with music on his mobile phone.

Residents found in breach of the new restrictions will face at least 10 days inside the province's jihadist-run jails, according to anti-Isis activists in the area.

Only those who pass a prison-based "Islamic course" will be allowed to leave at the end of their initial sentence.

Home to hundreds of thousands of Syrians, Raqqa is known as the capital of the jihadist's embryonic Islamic State. Male and female morality brigades patrol the provincial capital regularly, and residents believed to be gay, or to have had sex outside of marriage, face brutal executions justified by obscure Islamic teachings.

The new penalties for practices deemed un-Islamic reveal the extremists tightening their grip over the social mores of millions of Syrians living under its rule.

The introduction of the new laws were revealed by the anti-Isis campaign group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) whose members risk their lives leaking information from inside the city. Isis regularly runs house-to-house searches, trying to find the operators of the group's website.

The activists reported that Isis' enforcement of its morality sanctions had been "changeable", but said they were being enforced with increasing stringency.

"The expression of view has become a crime," a local resident, named only as Jassem, told RBSS.

"You cannot oppose or discuss a decision issued by [Isis], otherwise you will be arrested on charges of violation of God's law."

Isis' focus on enforcing morality is reminiscent of similar attempts made by religious Shia militias in Iraq. In 2012, human rights groups said up to 90 people had been abducted and murdered because they were accused of being gay or "emo".

With almost no journalists able to operate in Raqqa, RBSS is one of the only conduits through which details of Isis' iron-fist rule are smuggled out to the world.

Yesterday, the group said 42 children had died inside a clinic for the treatment of blood disorders since January 2014, because of a shortage of drugs.

Video shows extremists smashing ancient statues

Isis extremists at Iraq's ancient city of Hatra destroyed the archaeological site by smashing sledgehammers into its walls and shooting Kalashnikov assault rifles at priceless statues, a new militant video purportedly from the group shows.

Militants attacked Hatra, a Unesco World Heritage site, last month, officials and local residents said, though the extent of the damage remains unclear as it is in territory still controlled by the group.

The video, released on Saturday, shows a militant on a ladder using a sledgehammer to bang on the back of one of the carved faces until it crashes to the ground and shatters. The video also shows a militant firing a Kalashnikov rifle at another, while men chop away the bases of some of the larger wall sculptures.

The video corresponded with AP reporting on the attack and was posted to a militant website frequently used by the group.

One militant, who speaks Arabic with a Gulf accent on the video, declares they destroyed the site because it is "worshipped instead of God". Isis has been destroying ancient relics they say promote idolatry that violates their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law.

- additional reporting AP