‘Mass grave of 230 killed by jihadists found in Syria’
19 Dec 2014 12:48 AM GMT
The discovery brings the number of Shaitat tribal members slain during the jihadists’ summer advance in Deir Ezzor province near Iraq to more than 900, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based group said it had “learned from trusted sources that more than 230 bodies have been found in a mass grave in the desert near Al-Kashkiyeh in the east of Deir Ezzor”.
The “vast majority” were civilians, many of them executed in cold blood after the tribe rose up against the Islamic State after it had driven out rival jihadists and rebels from the area.
ISIS controls large swathes of northern and eastern Syria, as well as parts of neighbouring Iraq.
Hundreds more members of the Shaitat tribe are still missing, said the Observatory, which relies on a large network of activists, doctors and military sources on all sides of the Syrian conflict for its reports. The tribespeople discovered the grave as they returned to their villages from months of displacement after losing their battle against ISIS.
The Britain-based group said it had “learned from trusted sources that more than 230 bodies have been found in a mass grave in the desert near Al-Kashkiyeh in the east of Deir Ezzor”.
The “vast majority” were civilians, many of them executed in cold blood after the tribe rose up against the Islamic State after it had driven out rival jihadists and rebels from the area.
ISIS controls large swathes of northern and eastern Syria, as well as parts of neighbouring Iraq.
Hundreds more members of the Shaitat tribe are still missing, said the Observatory, which relies on a large network of activists, doctors and military sources on all sides of the Syrian conflict for its reports. The tribespeople discovered the grave as they returned to their villages from months of displacement after losing their battle against ISIS.
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