Syrian ‘heart-eating’ rebel killed

In May 2013, Khaled Al Hamad appeared in a video that showed him appearing to eat the heart of a dead regime soldier, sparking an international outcry and condemnation from the mainstream Syrian opposition.

A Jabhat Al Nusra fighter carries ammunitions as the Al Qaeda affiliate moves its bases away from civilian areas in Idlib province on September 24, 2014. Nusra Front Social Media Account/AP Photo

BEIRUT // A Syrian fighter who appeared in a gruesome video cutting out the organs of a regime soldier and appearing to eat them has been shot dead by rival rebels, a monitoring group has said.

Known by his nom de guerre Abu Sakkar, the rebel reportedly joined Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Al Nusra about a year ago.

Rival rebels “assassinated Khaled Al Hamad, who was known as Abu Sakkar and who was a military commander in Al Nusra, by gunning him down” in the northwestern province of Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said late on Tuesday.

In May 2013, Abu Sakkar appeared in a video that showed him appearing to eat the heart of a dead regime soldier, sparking an international outcry and condemnation from the mainstream Syrian opposition.

At the time, he was fighting in a rebel brigade in central Homs province.

“He was likely killed in a settling of accounts” between Al Nusra, which dominates much of Idlib province, and other hardline rebels in the area, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

The Syrian conflict began as a peaceful uprising against president Bashar Al Assad in March 2011 but swiftly escalated into an armed rebellion after his regime unleashed a brutal crackdown.

Many Syrians became radicalised, and human rights groups have accused all sides in the fighting of committing atrocities.

* Agence France-Presse