British sniper saves father-son duo from being beheaded by Islamic State fighters

A British sniper saved a man and his eight-year-old son from being beheaded at the hands of an Islamic State terrorist after shooting dead the man who was about to execute them. [caption id=“attachment_2387888” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] He shot the would-be executioner in the head from a range of 1,000 metres before taking out two other terrorists,  reports the Daily Express. The father and son duo belong to Islam’s Shia sect, which is regarded as heretical by the terrorist outfit, were going to be killed because they refused to renounce their faith. According to  British reports, the snipers had been tipped off by an Iraqi spy and were on the scene in northern Syria close to the Turkish border in time to prevent the killings. The dramatic rescue operation straight out of a Hollywood movie took place last month in the border of Turkey and Syria where an elite SAS unit had been conducting covert patrols. The British press widely reported that the sniper unit moved into a position just outside the village where Islamic State members were holding the ’trial’ in front of the townsfolk who had been forced to attend at gunpoint.  That’s when the sniper took aim and fired the shot. Sources told the Daily Star Sunday that, “The IS thug who was about to decapitate the father was shot in the head and collapsed. Everyone just stared in confusion. The sniper then dispatched the two henchmen with single shots – three kills with three bullets.” That’s when the crowd came to the rescue and untied the father and son’s hands and took off their blindfolds. The Islamic State fighters who stared at the bodies and fled, have not returned to the village since. SAS teams have fought alongside resistance fighters in both Iraq and Syria for more than a year.