- ISIS has released a video of a mass slaughter of regime soldiers in Palmyra
- The condemned men are lined up on their knees on the amphitheatre stage
- Child executioners, with pistols in hand, stand behind the condemned men
- A giant ISIS flag hangs in the background in the ancient monument
- A baying crowd of men and boys gathered in the amphitheatre to watch
ISIS has released a significant new execution video from the historic city of Palmyra, in the Syrian desert.
Child executioners are shown in the video being forced to brutally slaughter a group of more than 25 regime soldiers.
The
video shows the soldiers lined up on their knees on the stage of the
Roman amphitheatre, which had formerly been used for an annual festival
in the city.
A
baying crowd of men and boys gathered in the restored ruin waiting for
the slaughter, many wearing military uniforms and headscarves.
Scroll down for video
Harrowing footage: Child executions were forced to brutally slaughter a group of more than 25 regime soldiers in Palmyra
Soldiers: The child executioners were
paraded into the amphitheatre when the condemned regime soldiers had
been lined up on the stage on their knees
Stage set: ISIS lined the condemned
regime soldiers up on the stage of the ancient amphitheatre, which was
formely used for an annual festival in the Syrian city
Behind
each condemned man stands a child executioner, all wearing desert
camouflage and brown bandanas, many of whom appear to be no older than
12 or 13 years old.
ISIS
fighters can be seen standing or sitting on top of the ancient ruins,
watching over the crowd as they wait for the slaughter.
A leader speaks to the audience, in front of an enormous ISIS flag draped across the back of the stage.
Waiting crowd: The men kneeled along the stage with a giant ISIS flag hanging in the background
Condemned: The video shows the men being led into the amphitheatre, and includes close ups of each of their faces
ISIS take-over: Palmyra, which was captured by ISIS at the end of May, lies in the middle of the Syrian desert
On a command, the condemned soldiers are killed simultaneously with a shot to the head.
ISIS captured the historic city on May 21, and has been systematically destroying the city's treasured ancient monuments.
The
group was accused of executing hundreds of people in and around Palmyra
since it swept into the city in May, after a lightning advance across
the desert from its stronghold in the Euphrates Valley to the east.
ISIS
is known for using children – dubbed ‘caliphate cubs’ – as suicide
bombers, soldiers and executioners in their attempts to instill fear
across Iraq and Syria.
Authorities fear that the use of children as soldiers and suicide bombers will only increase in the coming months.
Militants
have kidnapped more than 500 children in recent weeks, and Iraqi police
chiefs fear the children will be brainwashed into joining the ISIS
ranks.
The
children were snatched from Iraq’s Anbar and Diyala provinces and taken
to the group’s bases, so they can be trained for use in ‘terror
attacks’, according to Iraqi authorities.
This is not the first such execution in the Roman amphitheatre in the ancient Syrian city.
Executions
being carried out in the Palmyra amphitheatre were first reported on
May 27 by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based
monitor, less than a week after ISIS captured the city.
The extremists 'called people to watch' the executions of 20 local men in the amphitheatre at the end of May.
The
murdered locals were accused of being government supporters, according
to a report from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Line-up: The child executioners - many
of whom appear to be no older than 12 or 13 - are paraded in the video
in front of the condemned regime soldiers
Blood-thirsty: A baying crowd of men and boys gathered in the amphitheatre to watch the 'spectacle'
Support: Many wore military uniforms and headscarves while waving flags in support of ISIS
'ISIS
executed 20 men by firing on them in front of a crowd gathered in
Palmyra's Roman theatre, after accusing them of fighting for the Syrian
regime,' Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights, told AFP at the time of the executions.
He added: 'ISIS gathered a lot of people there on purpose, to show their force on the ground.'
ISIS
reportedly carried out more than 200 executions, including of
civilians, in and around Palmyra in the period when it captured the
city.
At
the time, Syria's antiquities director Mamoun Abdelkarim said he feared
the killings could signal the start of 'the group's barbarism and
savagery against the ancient monuments of Palmyra'.
'Using the Roman theatre to execute people proves that these people are against humanity,' he told AFP.
The
Greco-Roman ruins at Palmyra are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site, and the city's capture by ISIS prompted international concerns for
the fate of its spectacular ancient treasures.
ISIS
has regularly released videos of its mass executions, with slick
production and gruesome violence that experts say is a key propaganda
tool for the group.
UNESCO
has condemned the jihadists' destruction of antiquities in the Syrian
city of Palmyra, describing it as an attempt to strip the people of
their heritage in order 'to enslave them'.
Adult fighters: The condemned men were
led into the stadium by gun-wielding ISIS fighters, but many of the
executioners appear to be teenagers
Expectant: A blood-thirsty crowd of
men and boys gathered to watch the brutal executions, while watched over
by ISIS fighters sitting and standing atop the restored ruins
'These
new destructions of cultural goods of the site of Palmyra reflect the
brutality and ignorance of extremist groups and their disregard of local
communities and of the Syrian people,' said Irina Bokova, UNESCO
director-general.
Among
the antiquities lost so far is the Lion Statue of Athena, destroyed at
the end of May, which was more than three-metres high.
Also
known as the Lion of Al-Lat, it dated back to the first century AD and
is one of the most significant treasures to have been destroyed within
the city.
The
destruction of the lion came just days after ISIS gathered Palmyra’s
citizens together and publicly promised not to harm the city’s ancient
buildings.
But
the fighters insisted that they would ‘pulverise’ any statues they
discovered in the city that they believed citizens secretly prayed to.
The
limestone statue was discovered in 1977 by a Polish archeological
mission at the temple of Al-Lat, a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess.
'The
destruction of funerary busts of Palmyra in a public square, in front
of crowds and children asked to witness the looting of their heritage is
especially perverse,' she said.
'These
busts embody the values of human empathy, intelligence and honour the
dead... Their destruction is a new attempt to break the bonds between
people and their history, to deprive them of their cultural roots in
order to better enslave them,' she added.
She urged action against the 'manipulation of religion'.
ISIS's
harsh version of Islam considers statues and grave markers to be
idolatrous, and the group has destroyed antiquities and heritage sites
in territory under its control in Syria and Iraq.
Source: dailymail.
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