ISIS Has Executed 3,500 in Syria, Monitor Says
The self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS) has executed 3,591 people since declaring its “caliphate” in June 2014, according to figures released by the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
In the month of November alone, ISIS executed 53 people, including 25 civilians, according to the Observatory, AFP reports.
The monitoring group’s new total includes 1,945 civilians, among them 103 women and 77 children. Some were executed for homosexuality, witchcraft and collaboration with the U.S.-led coalition that has been bombing the extremist group in Syria since June 2014.
ISIS also reportedly killed 415 of its own members, accused of crimes like spying or desertion, in addition to 975 members of the Syrian army, according to the monitor.
In Deir Ezzor, the extremist group killed 930 members of the Sunni Shaitat tribe because it was opposed to jihadist rule in the area.
Enemies Increasing Support for Rebels, Assad Says
Bashar al-Assad has said his enemies have increased military and financial support to rebel groups in Syria since his army, with the support of allies like Russia and Iran, began an offensive to regain lost territory.
Assad told Ali Akbar Velayati, a top advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, that the military support his government had received from Tehran and Moscow had pushed his adversaries to “further escalate and increase financing and equipping of terrorists,” Reuters reports.
An anonymous source in the Syrian military told Reuters last week that rebel groups were increasingly using U.S.-made anti-tank missiles purchased by Saudi Arabia and supplied by Turkey. The advanced weaponry was reportedly making an impact on the battlefield.
Iranian state media quotes Assad as telling Velayati that defeating opposition groups aimed at removing him from power was a prerequisite for the “success of any political solution decided by Syrians.”
At Least 18 Killed in Russian Strike on Market: Monitor
Russian fighter jets killed at least 18 people in airstrikes on a busy Sunday market in the northern rebel-held town of Ariha, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Observatory said the strikes took out three buildings in the town’s center. A Facebook page dedicated to local news in the area, Ariha Today, said the raid killed 40 people and wounded more than 70 others.
If Russian jets are found responsible for the attack, reports the Guardian, it would be one of Moscow’s deadliest raids since it militarily intervened in Syria on behalf of President Assad two months ago.
The Observatory says that Russian airstrikes have killed more that 400 civilians.
Recommended Reads
- Middle East Eye: YPG, Allies Clash With Syrian Opposition Groups in Aleppo
- The Washington Post: A Powerful Antidote to the Islamic State
- Salon: The Rise of al-Baghdadi and the Islamic State
- Mother Jones: This Composer Wants You to Know Who Syrian Refugees Really Are
- The New York Times: Predatory Islamic State Wrings Money From Those It Rules
Top image: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, right, meets with Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Damascus on Tuesday, May 19, 2015. (SANA via AP)