Militants of the Nusra Front terrorist organization (banned in Russia) executed over 60 people in Syria's Idlib province in one week, including teenagers, the head of Damascus-based Syrian Human Rights Network, Ahmad Kazem, told Sputnik
BEIRUT (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2019) Militants of the Nusra Front terrorist organization (banned in Russia) executed over 60 people in Syria's Idlib province in one week, including teenagers, the head of Damascus-based Syrian Human Rights Network, Ahmad Kazem, told Sputnik.
"The most terrible violations of human rights [in the province of Idlib] are executions of teenagers and citizens accused of homosexuality. More than 60 people in a week. The fact that they were executed by being dropped from rooftops is even worse," Kazem said.
According to the activist, the extremely difficult humanitarian situation in Idlib became more complicated after Nusra Front militants gained control over some areas in the province in 2015.
In accordance with ceasefire agreements, militants from radical groups that refused to surrender to Syrian government forces in Aleppo, Homs and the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, as well as from southern provinces of the country where counterterrorism operations were held were transferred to Idlib via humanitarian corridors.
Last September, Syrian ceasefire guarantors Russia and Turkey agreed to set up a demilitarized zone in Idlib, which was expected to have been established by October 15, 2018. Despite progress in the withdrawal of heavy weapons and militants from the area, remaining groups regularly commit ceasefire violations by shelling nearby provinces.
On January 18, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that jihadists from the Nusra Front, which is believed to be dominating the area, had taken over around 70 percent of the 9-12 mile demilitarized zone.
