Lebanese soldier beheaded by #ISIS militants after he tried to escape captivity

The mother of the second Lebanese soldier to have been beheaded by IS militants learned of her son's gruesome murder after seeing photographs of it on Twitter. 

Zeinab Noun's 20-year-old son, Abbas Medlej, was among 19 Lebanese soldiers captured by the extremist militants last month when a troop of fighters stormed a border town.

The 20-year-old's murder was depicted in graphic photographs po

sted from a Twitter account used by ISIS. 

Clutching a passport sized photograph of her son, Noun said this evening: 'My son has been sacrificed.' 

A spokesman for Lebanon's military said it was investigating the images. 

A statement believed to have been released by IS militants on Twitter read: 'In the name of God the merciful, in the Islamic country of Damascus city Kalmoun area, today and in a disgraceful way, the Lebanese soldier name Abbas Madlej tried to escape from prison. 

'He tried to shoot our comrade soldiers of our country.

'Thank God we managed to control the situation and neutralise him.

'His fate was slaughter.

This image, thought to be of the soldier before he was captured, has circulated on social media

'Thank God. God meant it to be.'

Medlej, from the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbak, was taken hostage along with 19 other soldiers when the Syrian-based IS militants ravaged a Lebanese border town last month.

His beheading is the second of a Lebanese soldier and fourth publicised execution at the hands of the increasingly barbaric Islamic State.

The Shiite Muslim was being held by the group of Sunni militants when he attempted to escape by pretending to go to the bathroom. 

Today his uncle confirmed the images were of the young soldier, threatening: 'Every Syrian in Lebanon is a target'. 

The young man's mother reiterated his vow, warning: 'We have to take our revenge from those apostates'. 

The Syrian conflict has inflamed tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, with the latter thought to be in support of President Bashar Assad's regime. 

His death comes after that of Sgt Ali al-Sayyed whose death has been protested by mourners this week. 

Sayyed, a Sunni Muslim, went missing alongside Medlej last month. It is thought there are also Christian hostages among them. 

Thousands of people protested in the streets during Sgt Sayyed's funeral in the northern town of Fnaydek.

Rocking his flag-laden coffin from side to side in a traditional act to symbolise his youth, angry crowds claimed their government had neglected those kidnapped by IS.