They are responsible for beheadings in Iraq and Syria, most notably as shown in the beheading videos of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, in 2014. The group also guarded more than 20 Western hostages of ISIL in Western Raqqa, Syria. They were harsher than other ISIL guards, using electric shock Taser guns, mock executions (including a crucifixion), and waterboarding.