Islamic State militants have executed at least 400 mostly women and children in Syria's ancient city of Palmyra. Eye-witnesses
have reported the streets are strewn with bodies – the latest victims
of the Islamic State's unrelenting savagery - on the same day
photographs of captured Syrian soldiers have emerged.
It
follows the killing of nearly 300 pro-government troops two days after
they captured the city, now symbolised by a black ISIS flag flying above
an ancient citadel
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Sickening: A picture sent by
activists to a Western journalist showed a row of men in a street in
Palmyra — known locally by its Arabic name Tadmur — lying in a pool of
blood. At least four had been decapitated
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Syrian state
television announced the most recent massacre, quoting residents inside
the city, which is known as Tadmur in Arabic.
'The
terrorists have killed more than 400 people.. and mutilated their
bodies, under the pretext that they cooperated with the government and
did not follow orders,' Syria's state news agency said.
It added
that dozens of those killed were state employees, including the head of
nursing department at the hospital and all her family members.
Harrowing
pictures have also emerged of Syrian army troops captured during the
fierce fighting as the city fell. The 20 soldiers, in military clothing,
look disheveled as they kneel before cameras.
Officials
say the Syrian army is deploying troops in areas near to the ancient
town in apparent preparation for a counter-attack to retake the city
from the Islamic State group.
Governor
Talal Barazi of the central province of Homs, which includes Palmyra,
said that IS members have 'committed mass massacres in the city of
Palmyra' since its capture.
He said IS fighters took civilians, including women, to unknown destinations.
But
he said retaliation was imminent, adding: 'there is planning, God
willing, for a military action in the surroundings of Palmyra'.
The photographs
show 20 Syrian soldiers, dressed in full uniform, on their knees, days
after 300 were killed in Palmyra
Source: UK Daily Mail
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