As ISIS is losing ground in both Iraq and Syria, it is also losing top-ranking leaders in targeted drone strikes. It turns out that as the U.S.-led coalition forces take out important ISIS leaders, the remaining leadership goes into a paranoia-driven killing spree, hunting for spies within their own ranks.

The killing of Abu Hayjaa al-Tunsi, a Tunisian jihadi, sparked a panicked hunt within the group’s ranks for spies who could have tipped off the U.S-led coalition about his closely guarded movements. By the time it was over, the group would kill 38 of its own members on suspicion of acting as informants.

They were among dozens of IS members killed by their own leadership in recent months in a vicious purge after a string of airstrikes killed prominent figures. Others have disappeared into prisons and still more have fled, fearing they could be next as the jihadi group turns on itself in the hunt for moles, according to Syrian opposition activists, Kurdish militia commanders, several Iraqi intelligence officials and an informant for the Iraqi government who worked within IS ranks.

The fear of informants has fueled paranoia among the militants’ ranks. A mobile phone or internet connection can raise suspicions. As a warning to others, IS has displayed the bodies of some suspected spies in public — or used particularly gruesome methods, including reportedly dropping some into a vat of acid.

The story about accused spies being murdered in nitric acid was confirmed by Iraqi News in May.

The source said in a brief statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “ISIS terrorist members executed 25 persons in Mosul on charges of spying and collaborating with Iraqi security forces,” pointing out that, “ISIS put the citizens in a large tub containing nitric acid inside one of its headquarters.”

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added, “ISIS members tied each person with a rope and lowered him in the tub, which contains nitric acid, till the victims organs dissolve.”

And they do have reason to suspect that members are selling out the leadership.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said some IS fighters began feeding information to the coalition about targets and movements of the group’s officials because they needed money after the extremist group sharply reduced salaries in the wake of coalition and Russian airstrikes on IS-held oil facilities earlier this year. The damage and the loss of important IS-held supply routes into Turkey have reportedly hurt the group’s financing.

“They have executed dozens of fighters on charges of giving information to the coalition or putting (GPS) chips in order for the aircraft to strike at a specific area,” said Abdurrahman, referring to IS in Syria.

But with every hit they take, the search for spies and leaks becomes more frantic.

Sherfan Darwish, of the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces, which has been spearheading the fight against IS in Syria, said there is panic in IS-held areas where the extremists have killed people simply for having telecommunications devices in their homes.

“There is chaos. Some members and commanders are trying to flee,” Darwish said.

ISIS has no qualms about executing anyone they think is in their way. A mass grave of victims was discovered not long ago in Syria (WARNING: video does have some graphic images of dead bodies).

We cannot forget who we are dealing with and the danger that they pose. The sooner these animals are driven away from civilian populations and are sent to their “paradise” by drone strike or air strike, the better. And if some are beginning to sell out the others, then so much the better for us.