Why are ISIS jihadis shaving their beards?

London: The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters have left behind mounds of hair after shaving off their beards and dressing as women to flee to the West.

According to the Daily Star, a photo on Twitter posted by an Iraqi journalist showed huge mounds of shavings in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

There were discarded packets of razors among the mounts of facial hair.

The journalist tweeted that the ISIS fighters shaved off so they escape clean shaven to Turkey.

According to the anti-ISIS resistance, some freshly-shaved jihadists are dressing up in women's robes and veils in a bid to get away.

The terror network's fighters all sport shaggy beards and shaving or cutting facial hair is haram (forbidden) under the strict Sharia law of ISIS.

The mass departure of ISIS jihadi has been sparked by the crushing of strongholds of the group by Russian fighter jets. Moscow security services claim thousands of terrorists have downed their weapons and fled to Turkey from where they may try to head to Europe as refugees.