MOSCOW (Sputnik) — More than 100 people, including Russian nationals, have been executed in Syria by Islamists over the past 50 days, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SORH) said Friday.
“SOHR could document [the] execution of 103 people, including 4 women and 8 people of Arab, Asian and Russian nationalities. The executions [were] carried out in different areas in Syria since the beginning of 2015 until this morning February 20,” the Observatory said.
More than 70 of the killings were carried out by the Islamic State jihadist group, while the rest were carried out by Sharia courts and other armed groups, including the local branch of al-Qaeda, as well as unknown gunmen.
Charges included blasphemy, betraying ISIL, homosexuality, sorcery, spying for the regime, and dealing with Russian and Jordanian intelligence services.
A civil war began in Syria in 2011, when anti-government protests turned into an armed uprising. Syria's government forces are battling numerous insurgent groups, including the notoriously brutal Islamic State, which has taken control over vast areas of the country.
