Beheaded in front of children, Assad's thugs are dragged to their doom and butchered like animals in some of the most brutal scenes to emerge from Syria's civil war
By Nick Enoch
The sword rests briefly on his neck as a blindfolded man kneels under a clear blue sky.
Moments later, the executioner raises his right arm, slashes downwards and the prisoner is dead.
The whole barbaric episode is watched by a crowd of jeering men, many of them armed.
And sitting on a low wall only a few feet from where the wretched captive died so violently is a line of young boys.
They
were still there as the dead man’s head was dumped on his body. Another
child, even younger, was led by the hand past the corpse.
Warning: Graphic content
As a cheering crowd of fighters look on, an
executioner - believed to belong to the Al Qaeda-linked faction ISIS -
lines up his sword in a practice run before delivering the final blow
A Syrian boy is held by the hand as he walks
past the body of a beheaded Islamic militant loyal to Assad. An unnamed
photojournalist was given rare access to the public execution in the
town of Keferghan in the north of the country
A group of young children sit on a wall as they stare at the dead body
The severed head of a militant is held aloft. The photographer witnessed four public executions on August 31
The public execution was the last of four that took place on August 31 in the town of Keferghan in the north
of the country.
The picture
forms part of a set taken by a photojournalist - whose identity has not
been revealed in order to protect him - who was given unprecedented
access to the gruesome proceedings.
Among
the other photos are an executioner lining up his sword before
delivering the final blow as his victim kneels in the village square -
and a victim's head being held aloft by a jubilant fighter.
Although it is difficult to
confirm the political affiliation of those involved, an eyewitness told
Time that the executioners belonged to ISIS - an Al-Qaeda faction
opposed to President Bashar Assad's regime.
The
captives, meanwhile, are understood to belong to the fearsome Shabiha
('ghosts') - thugs loyal to Assad who are said to roam the country
massacring women and children.
The captives are understood to belong to the
fearsome Shabiha ('ghosts') - thugs loyal to Assad who are said to roam
the country massacring women and children
Above, a captive prepares to meet his fate.
Describing the scene, the photographer said: 'That scene in Syria, that
moment, was like a scene from the Middle Ages, the kind of thing you
read about in history books'
Below is an edited account of the photographer's harrowing experience:
'The man was brought in to the square.
His eyes were blindfolded. I began shooting pictures, one after the
other. It was to be the fourth execution that day I would photograph. I
was feeling awful; several times I had been on the verge of throwing up.
But I kept it under control because as a journalist I knew I had to
document this, as I had the three previous beheadings I had photographed
that day, in three other locations outside Aleppo.
The
crowd began cheering. Everyone was happy. I knew that if I tried to
intervene I would be taken away, and that the executions would go ahead.
I knew that I wouldn’t be able to change what was happening and I might
put myself in danger.
I
saw a scene of utter cruelty: a human being treated in a way that no
human being should ever be treated. But it seems to me that in two and a
half years, the war has degraded people’s humanity. On this day the
people at the execution had no control over their feelings, their
desires, their anger. It was impossible to stop them.
A member of the notorious Shabiha is held by the scruff of his neck as he is led to his doom
The pictures emerged as the organisation Human
Rights Watch released a video and report into brutal summary executions
carried out by the other side - Syrian government forces
The executions took place near Syria's largest
city, Aleppo, which has seen intense fighting between the rebels and
Assad's forces
I
don’t know how old the victim was but he was young. He was forced to
his knees. The rebels around him read out his crimes from a sheet of
paper. They stood around him. The young man was on his knees on the
ground, his hands tied. He seemed frozen.
Two
rebels whispered something into his ear and the young man replied in an
innocent and sad manner, but I couldn’t understand what he said because
I don’t speak Arabic.
At
the moment of execution the rebels grasped his throat. The young man put
up a struggle. Three or four rebels pinned him down. The man tried to
protect his throat with his hands, which were still tied together.
He
tried to resist but they were stronger than he was and they cut his
throat. They raised his head into the air. People waved their guns and
cheered. Everyone was happy that the execution had gone ahead.
That
scene in Syria, that moment, was like a scene from the Middle Ages, the
kind of thing you read about in history books. The war in Syria has
reached the point where a person can be mercilessly killed in front of
hundreds of people who enjoy the spectacle.
As
a human being I would never have wished to see what I saw. But as a
journalist I have a camera and a responsibility. I have a responsibility
to share what I saw that day. That’s why I am making this statement and
that’s why I took the photographs. I will close this chapter soon and
try never to remember it.'
'The war in Syria has reached the point where a
person can be mercilessly killed in front of hundreds of people - who
enjoy the spectacle,' said the photographer
The picture forms part of a set taken by the photojournalist, whose identity has not been revealed in order to protect him
Wearing a bloodied blindfold, one of the captives kneels before his executioners
The dreadful pictures
emerged as the organization Human Rights Watch released a video and
report into brutal summary executions carried out by the other side -
Syrian government forces.
They massacred at least 248 innocent people in the towns of al-Bayda and Baniyas in May this year, the report said.
The
executions - which included at least 37 women and children - came after
military clashes had ended and opposition fighters had retreated.
People
were rounded up and shot at close range in an apparent attempt to
‘teach a lesson’ to the townsfolk not to side with the rebels.
The
United States and Russia undertook a second day of talks in Geneva
yesterday to try and achieve a diplomatic solution to the brutal
conflict and get Syria to hand over its chemical weapons.
Anti-Assad fighters are seen here near Aleppo, in norther Syria
The U.S. and Russia undertook a second day of
talks in Geneva yesterday to try and achieve a diplomatic solution to
the brutal conflict and get Syria to hand over its chemical weapons
Syrian government forces massacred at least 248
innocent people in the towns of al-Bayda and Baniyas in May this year.
Above, a rebel fighter
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