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DAMASCUS: Syrian troops have found a mass grave containing the bodies of 42 people executed by members of the militant Islamic State (IS) group in Palmyra, sources said.
Days after Syrian troops recaptured Palmyra and its ancient ruins, the army “uncovered a mass grave of officers, soldiers, members of the popular committees (pro-regime militia) and their relatives,” a military source said on Saturday.
Twenty-four of the victims were civilians, including three children, he said, asking not to be named. “They were executed either by beheading or by shooting.”
The bodies have been transferred to a military hospital in the provincial capital Homs and some have been identified.
During their occupation of Palmyra, IS executed at least 280 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor which confirmed the discovery of the mass grave.
Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2016
