Isis video 'showing British child blowing up car with prisoners inside' shows jihadists are in retreat, says PM

Downing Street is investigating an Isis propaganda video appearing to show three men being strapped into a car and blown up by a four-year-old British boy.

David Cameron’s official spokeswoman said the Government was studying the video’s contents but insisted it was evidence the group is losing ground in Syria and Iraq.

“As we’ve said before, releasing such propaganda is an example of a terrorist group feeling under pressure," she said.

"They seem to be resorting to desperate tactics as they find themselves under pressure in Iraq and Syria from the joint action of the Coalition against Daesh [another name for Isis].”

She refused to be drawn on whether anyone involved in grooming the boy featured in the film should be prosecuted for war crimes, but added that in general there should be “consequences” for people involved in war crimes.

Isa Dare, who was taken to Syria by his mother Grace “Khadija” Dare, is seen wearing combat fatigues and black headband in the disturbing footage.

He was accompanied by a young man believed to be a previously unknown British teenager, who addressed the UK with a scarf covering his face.

“You will never fight us except behind fortified fortresses or behind walls,” he said.

"Firstly, when you sent your spies to Syria and when you authorised for your men, thousands of miles away, to push a button to kill our brothers who lived in the West.

"So today, we're going to kill your spies the same way they helped you kill our brothers. So prepare your army and gather your nations for we too are preparing our army.”

The video opens with “confessions” by the three captives being killed, who are shown wearing orange boiler suits while talking to the camera, before they are forced inside the car and handcuffed to the inside.

Isa is then seen making an “ok” hand symbol before appearing to press the detonator blowing up the car, which exploded in a huge fireball recorded from the air in the desert.

It ends with the child shouting “Allahu Akbar” with his arm raised next to the burnt wreckage.

Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, a collective of citizen journalists and activists exposing Isis atrocities in its Syrian stronghold said the young man in the footage was believed to be a teenager.

It is believed to have been filmed in Raqqa province at least a month ago or possibly last year.

Isa was seen gesturing towards what appeared to be the same car, while wearing the same outfit, in a warped trailer for footage in a previous execution video released last month.

“We will kill the kuffars (infidels) over there,” he said before a short clip of the three men being forced inside the car was shown, suggesting the two videos were filmed at the same time.

Last month’s video, entitled “A Message to David Cameron”, saw a British militant believed to be Siddhartha Dhar threaten the UK for bombing the terrorist group before five hostages were killed.

Isa was identified by his grandfather, Henry Dare, who has accused Isis of using the boy as a “pawn” and human shield.

The boy’s mother, Grace “Khadijah” Dare, was brought up as a Christian but converted to Islam and travelled to Syria from her home in Lewisham in 2012, taking Isa with her as a baby.

She married Swedish Islamist fighter Abu Bakr, who is believed to have since been killed.

She used Twitter to call for more British Muslims to join her in Syria, vowing to be the first UK woman to kill a British or American hostage following the beheading of James Foley.

Isis has used children several times to murder hostages in propaganda videos and has boasted of its “cubs” jihadist training camps in its territories.

Additional reporting by PA