Sky News is reporting that videos and images posted on social networks suggest Britons fighting in Syria may have taken part in beatings and even executions.
The material was uploaded onto the accounts of two men from London, thought to be fighting in Islamist rebel groups that have some links to Jahbat al Nusra.
Jahbat al Nusra is the only jihadi outfit operating on the ground in Syria that is explicitly endorsed by al Qaeda’s global leader.
One video, apparently taken on a mobile phone, was posted to Facebook on January 30 this year .
It shows a prisoner, apparently from the Free Syrian Army, being beaten for insulting Allah.
The FSA prisoner is heard shouting his innocence as he is bound to a car tyre and beaten across the legs with what appears to be a metal baton.
As he writhes around on the floor, one of the men stamps on his head.
Repeatedly he cries in Syrian Arabic dialect that he is not a “kuffar”, a non-believer, and that he is a “mujahid” – a Muslim fighter like them.
As the beating continues he begs them not to kill him.