The terrorist organisation known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) has executed nearly 2,000 people in Syria over the last six months, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday. Over half of the victims are believed to belong to the Al-Shaitat tribe, a prominent Sunni clan.
The London-based watchdog said in a statement that, “the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented the execution by the Islamic State of 1,878 people in Syria between June 28 when it announced its ‘caliphate’ and December 27.”
The Observatory pointed out that the victims “were shot dead, beheaded or stoned to death in the provinces of Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, Al Hasakah, Aleppo, Homs and Hama.” Of the victims, 1,175 were civilians, including four children and eight women, along with more than 930 members of the Al-Shaitat clan, which refused to swear allegiance to the jihadist extremist organisation.
ISIS executed a further 502 officers and members of the Syrian army and gunmen loyal to Syrian forces after capturing them in battles or arresting them at roadblocks in areas they control.
The organisation also executed nearly 120 of its own members, mostly foreign militants who tried to escape and return to their home countries, as well as 80 fighters from rival group Jabhat Al-Nusra, the Al-Qaeda armed wing in Syria.
The Observatory noted that the actual number of executions carried out by the organisation is likely to be higher than the documented figures, but that they are difficult to verify given that hundreds of detainees are currently being held by ISIS and their fate is still undetermined.
Experts believe the group films and broadcast their execution to provoke panic among civilians and groups fighting them and to attract new jihadists to join their ranks
No comments:
Post a Comment