Official U.S. Twitter account posts picture of dead ISIS fighters after air strike

The Tweet sent out by 'Think Again'. Note: we have obscured the images to prevent offending readers (Picture: Twitter)

A hard-hitting Twitter account used by the U.S. government has posted a composite picture of four dead ISIS fighters with text saying the strike which killed them was 'a major step to getting the job done'.

The hard-edged 'Think Again Turn Away' social media campaign aims to dissuade people from joining groups such as ISIS, and is run by the U.S. State Department. The official 'Think Again' Twitter account posted the Tweet earlier this week - before deleting it.

The Tweet, dated September 23, supposedly shows fighters killed in Tuesday night's airstrikes against ISIS positions in Syria.

The Twitter account has previously posted a fake ISIS recruiting video showing the group desecrating sites and crucifying Muslims.

Other Tweets show images of crying children with captions such as, 'ISIS forced Iraqi families from their own homes.'

This week, the campaign has focused on frightening would-be jihadis with videos showing videos of American guided missiles hitting ISIS targets and other 'shock and awe' tactics.

Shock and awe: a video showing American guided missiles targeting ISIS vehicles (Picture: Twitter)

The campaign is a new U.S. weapon in a war that is increasingly being waged online, and designed to counter ISIS's heavy presence on the internet.

The 'Think Again' Youtube, Facebook and Twitter accounts aim 'to expose the facts about terrorists and their propaganda', with the tagline: 'Don't be misled by those who break up families and destroy their true heritage.'

The accounts issue Arabic and English videos similar in style to those of al-Qaida and the IS group.

A study by The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto showed that despite blocking mobile messaging apps and social media platforms, Iraq's authorities failed to block seven websites affiliated with or supportive of the Islamic State group.

New accounts appear almost as quickly as old accounts are reported and taken down.

'It's hard to wage a war with ideas online,' said Abdulaziz Al-Mulhem, the spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Information and Culture. 'When we talk about monitoring or controlling social media it is like trying to control air, and this of course is hard.'

Facebook says it has 71 million active monthly users in the Middle East, and youth between the ages of 15 and 29 make up around 70 percent of Facebook users in the Arab region, according to a report by the Dubai School of Government.