The bodies of 65 civilians were found in a central Syrian town after government forces retook it from the Islamic State group on October 20. Most of them are believed to have been executed by the terror group, Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.
The bodies were found in Qaryatayn in Homs province. The Observatory said the toll is likely to rise, and that the civilians were killed after the militant group took over the town on October 1. Syrian troops and allied fighters regained control of Qaryatayn on Saturday, AP reported.
The Islamic State group has been rapidly losing ground in war-ravaged Syria in recent months. On October 17, the Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the United States, said it had fully recaptured Raqqa, the terror group’s headquarters since it seized the city in early 2014.
The group lost its Iraqi stronghold in Mosul in July.
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