ISIS executes 33 in the Syrian desert, observatory claims

Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — In the al-Mayadin desert near Deir ez-Zor, ISIS executed 33 people “with sharp tools” on Wednesday a conflict monitoring group claimed, as ISIS is increasingly limited in its movements and is being squeezed out of major population centers in Syria.

"The 'Islamic State' [ISIS] organization executed 33 persons aged between 18 and 25 years old in the desert of al-Mayadin in an area located about 8 km southeast of al-Mayadin city in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor city," a statement from SOHR read.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that its activists “were able to monitor the execution and see the bodies.”

The US-led international coalition to defeat ISIS believes places like Deir ez-Zor to be ISIS’s largest concentrations of forces.

“As ISIS is being squeezed out of Mosul and isolated from Raqqa they are centered largely along the Euphrates River valley, ranging from Raqqa all the way down through Deir ez-Zor, Mayadin, Abu Kamal, and then over into Al-Qa'im in Iraq,” the press office of the US-led global anti-ISIS coalition told Rudaw English by email in March. “That is probably their largest concentration of forces.

“We also believe there is a pocket of ISIS fighters there that may grow as they realize they cannot safely re-enter Raqqa and have no ability to get into Mosul in large numbers without encountering Iraqi security forces screening them.”

ISIS has not been in full control of Deir ez-Zur city. The Syrian army, supported by Russia, controls portions, including an airbase in the south of the city, and they clash regularly with ISIS fighters.