Islamic State said to slaughter 128 in revenge campaign

The Islamic State group killed at least 128 people it suspected of collaborating with the Syrian regime in al-Qaryatain this month before losing the desert town to government forces, a monitor said Monday.

Over 20 days, IS had slaughtered civilians in “reprisal killings, accusing them of collaboration with regime forces,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory said most of the dead were killed during the terror group’s three-week seizure of the town.

The activist-run Palmyra Coordination Committee published the names of the killed. It said at least 35 of the victims were found shot and their bodies dumped in a shaft.

IS, which has suffered major setbacks in recent months, recaptured the mainly Christian al-Qaryatain late last month by activating sleeper cells in the town.

Syrian government forces and Iranian-backed militiamen covered by Russian airstrikes retook the town on Saturday after nearly three weeks of fighting.