Ribal Al-Assad condemns brutal crucifixion in Raqqa
Thursday, 1 May 2014
Two men have reportedly been crucified by fighters from the ISIL
Syrian rebels crucified: Islamic extremists execute two men in the most public way for 'fighting against Muslims'
MAIL ONLINE
Islamic extremists have publicly crucified two Syrian rebels in northeastern Syria in revenge for a grenade attack on members of their group.
The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant said it had executed a total of seven prisoners who it claimed had carried out a grenade attack on one of its fighters earlier this month in the Euphrates Valley city of Raqqa.
The group, which even Al Qaeda have been keen to distance themselves from, said on Twitter: 'Ten days ago, attackers on a motorbike threw a grenade at an ISIL fighter at the Naim roundabout. A Muslim civilian had his leg blown off and a child was killed.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights posted a photograph of the two prisoners being crucified at the roundabout.
Passers-by appear to be walking past the two men apparently unfazed.
One of the men is pictured with a banner wrapped round his body which reads: 'This man fought against Muslims and threw a grenade in this place.'
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said they were not the first crucifixions by ISIL. On April 16, its fighters executed a man for theft from a Muslim in the same way.
ISIL's exactions caused a backlash against them from rival rebel groups, including Al-Qaeda's official Syria affiliate Al-Nusra Front, who joined forces against its fighters from the start of the year.
ISIL has now been forced out of much of northern Syria but its fighters remain entrenched in Raqqa - the only provincial capital entirely outside Syrian government control - and much of its surrounding province.
The group also carried out three executions in the Raqqa provincial town of Tal Abyad, on the Turkish border, and two more in the town of Saluq, the Observatory said.
Last week, ISIL claimed responsibility for a series of explosions which killed 28 people and left more than 40 injured at a political rally in Iraq on Friday.
The militant group Asaib Ahl Haq (League of the Righteous) was presenting its candidates for elections on April 30 at the rally in eastern Baghdad.
Three bombs exploded in succession as people were leaving, reporters at the scene said.
A roadside bomb went off near the main gate, followed by a suicide car bomb after a few minutes and then a final explosion.
In a statement posted on the internet, ISIL said it had carried out the bombings in response to 'murder, torture and displacement' of Sunnis by Shi'ite militias which 'massacred children and women'.
Condemning the act, Ribal Al-Assad, Director of the ODFS, said:
"I am appalled to learn of these brutal executions in Raqqa; a horrific spectacle which demonstrates the gravity of the situation facing ordinary Syrians.
This is barbarism, there can be no excuse for such heinous behaviour and those responsible must be brought to justice - these crimes cannot be forgotten.
We cannot allow this situation to continue, these acts are a signal for us all - we urgently need to resolve this conflict through a peaceful and democratic means before crimes like these become commonplace.
The International community must come together and rid Syria, the region and the whole word of these extremists.
These people know no bounds, they are capable of anything."