Eight dead bodies hang from a metal frame in the Iraq 's Kirkuk province in Islamic State 's latest public display of barbarity . The gruesome images which emerged on social media show the men 's limp bodies suspended from their feet off a tall structure in the town of Hawija . The notorious black flag used by Islamist groups like ISIS is displayed above them as horrified onlookers inspect the scene . Some of the deceased men appear to be wearing military fatigues but it is not known if they were Iraqi soldiers . An ISIS fighter believed to be Abu Al-Rahman poses triumphantly in one of the pictures - giving the one-fingered salute in front of a bloodied victim 's corpse . Scroll down for video . Barbarity : Eight men were found hanging from their feet in the Iraqi city of Hawija in the militants ' latest public display of death . Gruesome : The dead men were suspended from a tall structure in the same city that Syrian soldiers were paraded through the streets in cages . Hallmark of terror : The notorious black flag used by extremist Jihadi groups like ISIS hung above the deceased men . Death : It is unknown whether the men were Iraqi soldiers , as ISIS ' presence in the northern-Iraqi city grows . The same tyrant has been been pictured before alongside severed heads and masked ISIS fighters . A shocking video released in February showed orange-clad captives being paraded in cages in the same city of Hawija . Frenzied crowds taunted the kidnapped men during the merciless procession which echoed the terrible death suffered by captured Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh . He was also caged before a film of him being burned alive , implying the same fate would befall the trapped captives in Hawija . It was seen as revenge against the Kurdish forces who dragged the bodies of ISIS fighters through the streets of northern-Iraq earlier that month . Previous reports suggest he is an Iraqi national from the town of Almere and the heads once belonged to members of the Syrian army whom the militants captured and beheaded . The extremist group has established a firm foothold in what was once an oil-rich Kurdish stronghold of Kirkuk . ISIS has been preparing a new base for its deadly operations in Hawija as the United States train Iraqi troops for an invasion to retake Mosul , the International Business Times reports . Terrorist : The man pictured posing alongside the suspended men is believed to be Abu Al-Rahman . Islamic State : The same man has been previously been pictured alongside armed , masked fighters believed to belong to ISIS . History of terror : Al-Rahman has also been photographed giving the one-fingered ISIS salute in front of several decapitated heads . Hawija is a predominantly Sunni Muslim town which lies off a major highway leading to Mosul and the capital Baghdad . Since ISIS first invaded the city in June 2014 , it progressively conquered neighbouring villages until it gained enough support from locals to establish its new headquarters there . Over the last nine months , its main base in Iraq has been in Iraq 's second-largest city Mosul which it took over last year . It has offered Islamic State a military advantage due to its proximity to the Syrian border , which allows them to smuggle both weapons and soldiers . But a US-led coalition has attacked the city with airstrikes for many months - targeting ISIS convoys and weapons stores . Trapped : A terrified Kurdish prisoner looks out from his cage at a mob of jeering militants in the horrific scene in Hawija . Captives : Each prisoner was accompanied by a black-clad and flag-waving jihadi - some armed with AK-47s . The Americans are now training over 20,000 Iraqi soldiers to retake the city from Islamic State 's deadly grip , US Cnetral Command has revealed . Their presence in Hawija gives the militants access to Anbar province and another road leading to the Baiji oil refinery they lost to the Iraqi military in November 2014 . Hawija has been a hotbed of violence April 2013 - two years after the US withdrew its troops from the country . It began when the government 's forces raided a camp of rebels in the city on April 24 and killed dozens of civilians in the process . 300 people had died as a result of the army 's battle with militant groups in the region in the next three days alone .
WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT . The gruesome scene believed to be from the northern-Iraqi city of Hawija . One man pictured next to the bodies appears to be notorious ISIS fighter . Abu al-Rahman has been seen alongside the heads of decapitated Syrians . Caged Syrian soldiers were mercilessly paraded through that same city . ISIS are preparing to move headquarters there from stronghold in Mosul . US is currently training Iraqi soldiers to retake Iraq 's second largest city .