Members of IS' religious police abducted by unknown gunmen in Syria

A report has said that some members of the religious police force set up by the Islamic State (IS) in Syria have been kidnapped.

London-based monitoring group, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that it was unclear how many members of the police force, known as Hisbah, had been kidnapped but added that they had been ambushed and abducted by unknown gunmen in the eastern city of Mayadin, reported the BBC.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said that there has been an increase in operations targeting the Hisbah because they arrest people and insult them for reasons like, smoking.

The Hisbah patrols areas under IS' control and enforces its version of Islamic law.

The news comes a day after reports suggested that the force's deputy commander in the area had been captured, tortured and beheaded by unknown assailants. His severed head was found with a cigarette in its mouth and a note that made a mocking reference to the fact that smoking is a sin in the eyes of the religious police, a report said.