Syrian activists say Islamic State (IS) militants have killed 116 people while the extremist group was in control of the central Syrian town of Al-Qaryatayn.
"IS has over a period of 20 days executed at least 116 civilians in reprisal killings, accusing them of collaboration with regime forces," Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said on October 23.
Syrian government forces recaptured Al-Qaryatayn in Homs Province on October 20, three weeks after the IS group seized control of it.
"After the regime retook it, the town's residents found the bodies on the streets,” Abdel Rahman said. “They had been shot dead or executed with knives."
More than 80 of them are believed to have been executed in the two days before IS militants lost the town, he added.
The IS group has been steadily losing ground in both Syria and Iraq over the last two years. Last week, U.S.-backed forces expelled the militants from Raqqa, their main stronghold in Syria.
