DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (AA)
Islamic State (IS) militants have executed 20 people, including children, in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor by beheading them, said the Syrian opposition.
Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC) said on Saturday that 20 bodies, including those of children, had been found in the western part of the city of Deir ez-Zor which had been controlled by the Islamic State. IS reportedly detains tens of other people in the region.
The Islamic State has taken over large portions of Iraqi and Syrian territory - subsequently declaring the region a "caliphate," a notion rejected by Muslims leaders and scholars - driving 1.2 million people from their homes. Islamic State militants have been mainly targeting Shiite Muslims, Turkmen, Ezidis and Christians.
U.S. airstrikes in Iraq have helped Kurdish peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army to contain them.
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