Islamic State kills 300 citizens in Syria

Islamic state militants killed dozens of people execution style in attacks on government-held areas in Syria’s city of Deir al-Zor on Saturday (January 17), a source and a monitoring said.

A news anchor on Syrian TV said that fighters from the Islamic State group killed around 300 people when they attacked the neighborhood of Begayliya.

“The terrorist organisation Daesh (Islamic State) committed a massacre in the village of Begayliya in the western countryside of Deir al-Zor, in which 300 citizens were killed, the majority of whom were elderly, women and children. The cabinet condemned the brutal and cowardly massacre that was committed by the terrorist group Daesh against the people of the village of Begayliya in the countryside of Deir al-Zor that resulted in the martydom of tens of the sons of the village. Prime Minister Wael Al-Halqi stressed that the moral and legal responsibility for this cowardly massacre lies with all the countries that support terrorism, and those that fund and arm these groups that are against humanity as a whole. And Prime Minister Al-Halqi stressed that these defeated groups carry out these massacres to cover up their repeated defeats, and that their days on Syrian territory are numbered.”

File footage of a cabinet meeting in Damascus was shown while the newscaster made the announcement. It was unclear what date the pictures had been shot.

A source close to the Syrian government said Islamic State fighters killed at least 250 people, including pro-government fighters and their families when they attacked the neighborhoods of Begayliya and Ayash in the city.

He said some of the casualties were beheaded.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the violence in the country through a wide network of local sources, said the militants killed dozens.

The Observatory said earlier that at least 35 soldiers and pro-government fighters were killed in the attacks. It also said the hardline group fighters had infiltrated the northwestern side of the city and carried out several attacks.

Islamic State group is in control of most of the eastern province while the government is holding parts of the city including a military airport.

Deir al-Zor province links Islamic State’s de facto capital in Raqqa with territory controlled by the group in Iraq.

Government-held areas in the city had been under siege by Islamic State fighters for more than a year and more than 200,000 people there are living in dire conditions lacking food and medicine.