IS executes 'more than 160' Syria troops in new atrocity

August 28, 2014 20:02

Islamic State jihadists have executed more then 160 fleeing Syrian soldiers, a monitor said today, the latest in a string of brutal abuses alarming Western powers who fear a global spread of the terror.

News of the killings comes as US President Barack Obama is reportedly weighing air strikes on IS positions in Syria and coming closer to greenlighting a mission to aid Shiite Turkmen trapped in an Iraqi town by the jihadists.

Syrian regime air strikes killed six IS leaders today, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, but Washington has so far baulked at cooperating with Damascus against the jihadists.

French President Francois Hollande added his voice to the disquiet that has been growing since the jihadists marauded through Iraq and beheaded US journalist James Foley.

The latest killings took place in the Syrian province of Raqa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that the victims were soldiers fleeing towards government-held territory to the west after the jihadists overran their base at Tabqa.

The jihadists boasted on Twitter that they had killed 200 defeated troops and posted video of what they said was the

garrison in headlong flight.

"IS executed more than 160 Syrian soldiers in three different places in Raqa province yesterday and at dawn today," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Jolt to MVA as Cong leader quits campaigning over no Muslim LS candidate

In a letter to Kharge, Khan said he will not campaign for party candidates for the remaining phases of the Lok Sabha polls and is also resigning from the state Congress campaign committee.

NIA chargesheets 14th accused in 2022 Coimbatore car bomb case

Naseer and his associates had conspired to wage war against the government of India and also to kill Indians in order to destabilise the country and create communal disharmony, it said.

India's Biggest Bow Arch String Girder

Glimpses of India's biggest Bowstring/Bow Arch Sting Girder installed by the Hindustan Construction Company on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link at 3.25 am, Friday, April 26, 2024.

IPL PIX: Punjab Kings beat KKR in record chase

IMAGES from the Indian Premier League match played between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings in Kolkata on Friday.

'Stats are going out of the window'

'Very pleasing. Most importantly the win, cricket has turned to baseball isn't it? We're delighted with the two points.'