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IS 'executes Syrian soldiers'

August 28, 2014

A human rights monitoring body says the Islamic State group has executed dozens of Syrian soldiers. Supporters of the militants claim 200 soldiers were killed.

https://p.dw.com/p/1D3Eu
Flughafen von Tabka von ISIS eingenommen
Image: Reuters

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday the Islamic State extremists killed the soldiers either with knives or by shooting them to death.

The exact number is unclear; a statement posted online and circulated by the group's supporters claim the militants killed "about 200" troops.

The killings took place in the Syrian province of Raqa, the Observatory said. It added the victims were fleeing towards government-held territory in the west, three days after the IS seized the Tabqa airfield in heavy fighting.

Photos online appeared to show dozens of men stripped down to their underwear marching through the desert.

It comes a day after a UN commission accused the extremist group of committing crimes against humanity in Syria. The UN has made similar accusations of the group in respect to Iraq.

The UN said public executions, amputations, lashings and mock crucifixions were becoming more common in Syria's jihadist-controlled areas.

Also on Wednesday, the German military began delivering arms to Kurdish forces battling the IS.

The militants have made significant territorial gains in recent months as part of a quest to establish a "caliphate" in northern Iraq and Syria.

jr/ksb (AFP, AFP)