BEIRUT // The Islamic State in Iraq and Levant killed more than 150 troops captured in recent fighting for a string of military bases in north-eastern Syria.
In southern Syria meanwhile, gunmen detained 43 UN peacekeepers during fighting on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, the United Nations said.
It added that another 81 peacekeepers were trapped in the area by the heavy clashes between rebels and Syrian troops.
The killing of government troops, combined with photos of dusty, terrified conscripts under militant guard in the desert, underscored how the extremist group uses violence – and images of violence – to instil fear in its opponents as it seeks to expand the territory it holds in Syria and Iraq.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that many of the soldiers killed were rounded up on Wednesday near the Tabqa airfield, three days after ISIL fighters seized the base.
The government troops were among a large group of soldiers from the base who were stuck behind the front lines after the airfield fell to ISIL.
The Observatory said around 120 captive government troops from Tabqa were killed near the base. ISIL fighters killed at least another 40 soldiers, most of whom were taken prisoner in recent fighting for other bases in the area, in the Hamrat region near Raqqa city, the group’s stronghold.
A statement posted online and circulated on Twitter by ISIL supporters claimed the extremists killed “about 200” government prisoners captured near Tabqa.
It also showed photographs of what it said were the prisoners: young men stripped down to their underwear marching in the desert. The photos could not immediately be verified, but correspond to other AP reporting.
A video that emerged online purportedly showed ISIL fighters escorting nearly 200 men, stripped down to their underwear and barefoot, through the desert. Another video posted online later showed more than 150 men, also in their underwear, lying motionless – apparently dead – in a row in the sand.
While the videos could not be independently confirmed, they appeared to illustrate the claims made by ISIL supporters and Syrian activists about the mass killing.
In its rise over the past year, ISIL has frequently published graphic photos and videos of everything from beheadings to mass killings.
A UN commission accused the group on Wednesday of committing crimes against humanity in Syria – echoing UN accusations against the group in Iraq.
The Islamic State group’s surge is one aspect of Syria’s multilayered civil war, a bloody conflict that has killed more than 190,000 people and destabilised the region.
The 43 UN peacekeepers were detained by an armed group early on Thursday in the Golan, where fighting has raged this week between Syrian rebels and government forces.
The office of UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon did not identify the armed group that is holding the peacekeepers. Several rebel groups operate in the Golan, while ISIL has no known presence there.
The UN said another 81 peacekeepers are “currently being restricted to their positions” in the vicinity of Ruwaihaniyeh and Burayqa.
The Syrian government denounced the “kidnapping” of the UN peacekeepers. The government said it holds “the terrorist groups and those who support them fully responsible for the safety of the UN peacekeepers, and calls for their immediate release”.
The statement from Mr Ban’s office said the UN “is making every effort to secure the release of the detained peacekeepers”, who are part of UNDOF, the mission that has been monitoring a 1974 disengagement accord between Syria and Israel after their 1973 war.
As of July, UNDOF had 1,223 troops from six countries: Fiji, India, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands and the Philippines.
Syrian rebels briefly abducted UN peacekeepers twice in 2013 before eventually releasing them unharmed.
Heavy fighting has engulfed the Syrian side of the Golan since on Wednesday, when rebels captured a crossing on the disputed frontier with Israel. A rebel spokesman said the opposition is focused on fighting President Bashar Assad, and poses no threat to Israel.
On Thursday, government warplanes targeted several rebel positions in the area, including in the village of Jaba, the Observatory said.
The Observatory said heavy clashes were raging between the rebels and the Syrian military in Jaba and the surrounding countryside.
White plumes of smoke set off by exploding mortar rounds could be seen on Thursday from the Israeli side of the Golan. The sound of small arms fire could be heard echoing in the background.
* Associated Press
