BEIRUT – Fighters of the US backed rebels in Syria executed 11 men they accused of taking part in massacres by Govt forces, a video published on Thursday showed.
A man whose face was covered in a black balaclava shot each man in the back of the head as they kneeled, blindfolded and lined up in a row in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor.
“The sharia court for the eastern region in Deir al-Zor has sentenced to death these apostate soldiers that committed massacres against our brothers in Syria,” the executioner said on the video.
Militants with black flags shouted “God is great” as each man was shot. The executioner returned to some victims, firing more bullets into them to make sure they were dead.
The video is the second in two days to show such executions by fighters who say they are from al Qaeda-linked groups.
A video posted online on Wednesday from the northern province of Raqqa, which is controlled by rebels, showed three blindfolded men sitting on the curb of a central roundabout before being shot in the head with a pistol.
A man speaking in the video said the executions were revenge for killings in the coastal town of Banias two weeks ago.
Video Shows Man Eating Body Organs
Video of a rebel commander in Syria eating the body organs of a soldier loyal to government has sparked a global outcry, with human rights groups calling for an immediate end to the savagery and impunity. Western analysts are also once again debating the wisdom of U.S. and European support for the Islamist opposition, backing that has included financing since before the rebellion began, arms shipments, training, and much more.
The footage in question had been circulating online and in news rooms for at least a week, but experts and reporters were unsure of its authenticity. Now, less than two weeks after the Obama administration announced that it may start overtly arming rebel forces in Syria, the video has been confirmed as authentic. In fact, the cannibalistic militant leader has reportedly even boasted of the crime in interviews with Western media outlets.
The horrific 30-second clip shows Al-Farouk Brigade chief Khalid al-Hamad, who apparently fights under the pseudonym Abu Sakkar and has been implicated in other atrocities, standing over the dead body of a pro-regime fighter as other rebels celebrate. After cutting out an organ apparently a lung mistaken for the heart or liver the commander holds it up and speaks toward the camera and then appears to take a bite out of the organ.
After the footage went viral on the Internet, spreading like wildfire through social media, Time magazine reported that it had interviewed the Brigade commander responsible for what analysts have described as ritualistic cannibalism. Speaking to the American publication via Skype, al-Hamad reportedly said that despite the furor, he had no regrets over his decision to eat his enemys organs and put the video online.
As if one film was not enough, the cannibal commander claimed to have video of other atrocities too. Hopefully we will slaughter all of them [Alawites], Al-Hamad was quoted as saying. I have another video clip that I will send to them. In the clip, I am sawing another shabiha [pro-government militiaman] with a saw. The saw we use to cut trees. I sawed him into small pieces and large ones. Agencies
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