ISIS slaughters over 3,500 since establishment of caliphate

A British human rights organization has documented 3,591 ISIS executions in Syria since the summer of 2014. Among its victims are 1,945 civilians, 103 women and 77 children.

An ISIS execution. (Dabiq)

The Islamic State (ISIS) terror organization has executed more than 3,500 people in Syria, including nearly 2,000 civilians, since declaring the establishment of its Muslim “caliphate” in June 2014, a group monitoring the civil war in Syria announced Sunday.

Over the past month alone ISIS has executed 53 people, including 35 civilians, in areas it controls in Syria, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

According to the SOHR’s latest count, 3,591 people were executed by ISIS in Syria since establishing its Muslim kingdom 17 months ago.

The new toll includes 1,945 civilians, of them 103 women and 77 children, with civilians defined as those who are not taking part in the fighting.

Some were executed for crimes against Islam such as homosexuality and even alleged witchcraft, and collaborating with the US-led coalition that has been flying sorties against ISIS in Syria since September 2014.

Members of Sunni Shaitat tribe, which fought ISIS’ rule, account for around half of the civilians casualties. ISIS killed 930 members of the clan in the northeastern Deir Ezzor province last year in a campaign to suppress their resistance.

An ISIS prisoner. (Dabiq)

The monitor also documented 247 ISIS executions of rival Syrian rebels and Kurdish fighters, as well as the executions of 975 members of military regime forces.

ISIS has also executed 415 of its own members it accused of crimes including espionage, many of them captured as they were trying to desert the group and return to their home countries.

The SOHR relies on a network of activists, medical staff and fighters on the ground to collate and produce its data.

These numbers do not include ISIS’ atrocities in Iraq, which is also partially under its control. Also, they do not include the 800 lives ISIS has taken in terror attacks around the globe.

More than 250,000 people have been killed and more than four million have fled the country since the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011.

ISISIslamic StateSOHRSyriaSyrian Civil War