The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says members of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group have executed more than 700 prisoners in Syria’s troubled eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr.
The Britain-based monitor group, citing dozens of security sources within Daesh as well as civilians living in areas under the terrorists’ control, reported on Wednesday that the prisoners were among a total of 1,350 civilians and rival militants held by the Takfiris.
Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman said that the executions had taken place ever since the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed coalition of mainly Kurdish militants, re-launched their assault on Daesh militants in October.
He added that many of the victims have been buried in mass graves.
Abdul Rahman went on to say that Daesh Takfiris executed three more people on Wednesday for “smuggling civilians” out of the enclave toward SDF-held areas.
About 200 people are thought to have fled in the last 24 hours, the Observatory said, noting that Daesh militants have moved over 350 prisoners farther west of the Euphrates River as SDF militants make more advances in Daesh-controlled territories.
On December 5, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, warned against the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria’s troubled eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr, saying that Daesh Takfiri terrorists are putting local residents to death.
Speaking to a news conference in the Swiss city of Geneva, Bachelet voiced deep concern for 7,000 civilians, whom she said had been caught between Daesh militants preventing them from evacuating Dayr al-Zawr, located 450 kilometers northeast of the capital Damascus, and US-led coalition airstrikes.
“We also have reports of Daesh executing people perceived as cooperating with SDF or other parties to the conflict,” she said.
The high-ranking UN official went on to say that civilians in Dayr al-Zawr province are being used as “pawns and bargaining chips” in the conflict.
Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the country.