Islamic State militants put at least 12 people to death in execution-style killings in the ancient city of Palmyra, which they re-captured from the government for a second time in December, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday.

The jihadist group beheaded four of the people - state employees and teachers - outside a museum, the group said. The eight others - four of them government soldiers and four of them rebel fighters captured elsewhere in Syria - were shot.

Some of the killings took place at an ancient Roman theatre in Palmyra, where Islamic State last year put at least 25 government fighters to death, the Observatory said.

Islamic State captured Palmyra for a second time from the government in December. Government forces and their militia allies, backed by Russian air power, took the city back from Islamic State in March, after first losing it in 2015.</s>Islamic State militants put at least 12 people to death in execution-style killings in the ancient city of Palmyra, which they re-captured from the government for a second time in December, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday.

The jihadist group beheaded four of the people - state employees and teachers - outside a museum, the group said. The eight others - four of them government soldiers and four of them rebel fighters captured elsewhere in Syria - were shot.

Some of the killings took place at an ancient Roman theatre in Palmyra, where Islamic State last year put at least 25 government fighters to death, the Observatory said.

Islamic State captured Palmyra for a second time from the government in December. Government forces and their militia allies, backed by Russian air power, took the city back from Islamic State in March, after first losing it in 2015.</s>The Islamic State (IS) terror group has killed 12 people in different parts of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, including its famous Roman theatre, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) said on Thursday.

The SOHR said the victims included four civilians -among them two professors -and four soldiers, who were taken captive by the terrorists amid recent clashes in Palmyra, after the IS regained control of the city on December 11, Efe news reported.

The remaining four victims were members of rebel factions, taken prisoner by IS militants during fighting in Al-Qalamoun, north of capital Damascus.

The organisation said the four civilians were beheaded on Wednesday at the Palmyra Museum square, while the others were shot dead at a former Russian army base and at the theatre.

The IS recaptured Palmyra after launching an offensive against Syrian armed forces on December 8.

The terrorists gained control of Palmyra for the first time on May 20, 2015, but were driven out by the Syrian army 10 months later, aided by aerial support from Russia.

During its dominion over the city, the feared terrorist group carried out killings at the theatre, including in July when 25 Syrian soldiers were shot dead by underage IS recruits.

During the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, Palmyra -whose Greco-Roman ruins are a Unesco World Heritage Site -was a prominent cultural hub and a nexus point for caravans travelling the Silk Road, an oasis of civilization in the midst of the central Syrian desert.</s>BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian activists say the Islamic State group has killed 12 people it held captive in the ancient city of Palmyra by shooting and beheading them.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says four of the victims, teachers and government employees, were beheaded. The Observatory and the activist Palmyra Monitor network say four opposition fighter and four pro-government troops were first shot, then beheaded. The activists say the killings took place on Wednesday

Some of the killings were carried out in the 2nd century Roman amphitheater, while others were said to have taken place in the courtyard of the Palmyra museum or in a former Russian base in Palmyra.

IS militants recaptured Palmyra in December, nine months after they were expelled from the city in a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive.</s>BEIRUT — The Islamic State group has killed 12 people it held captive in Syria’s ancient Palmyra by shooting and beheading them, with some of the slayings carried out in the city’s second-century Roman amphitheatre, activists said on Thursday.

The extremist group had recaptured the city in December from government troops — nine months after ISIL was expelled from there in a Russia-backed offensive and while Syrian government forces were focused on retaking the eastern half of the city of Aleppo from rebels.

When they previously controlled Palmyra, ISIL militants had used the Roman amphitheatre for public killings, including those in a video showing 25 boys with pistols shooting captured Syrian soldiers, the ancient colonnades visible in the background.

The Islamic State group has also destroyed ancient temples and other relics in the past, triggering fears among experts for remaining antiquities in the city. The city has been largely emptied out of its residents, following the government offensive in March last year.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and another activist network, the Palmyra Monitor, said the 12 captives were killed on Wednesday. They were captured as they tried to escape the ISIL offensive on Palmyra last month.

The Observatory said four teachers and government employees were beheaded in the courtyard of the Palmyra museum. The Observatory and the Palmyra Monitor said the others — four opposition fighters and four pro-government troops — were first shot, then beheaded in the Roman amphitheatre or in a former Russian base in Palmyra.

The Observatory also said Thursday that ISIL militants during an ongoing assault in eastern Syria’s Deir el-Zour province, hung the heads of six pro-government fighters in public, in different parts of the town of al-Mayadeen. There were no bodies attached to the heads, and it was not clear if the six were killed in battle or after they were taken captive.

Over the past year, ISIL has suffered defeats in both Syria and Iraq, losing several towns and cities it had captured in 2014. Its surprise re-taking of Palmyra came weeks before it went on a wide assault in Deir el-Zour, against the government controlled part of the city. Activists said it was the ISIL group’s most aggressive onslaught on the government area and a nearby military air base in a year.

The Islamic State group is feared for its reign of terror and gruesome killings, including beheadings, often carried out in public.</s>Beirut: The Islamic State group has killed 12 people it held captive in Syria's ancient Palmyra by shooting and beheading them, with some of the slayings carried out in the city's second-century Roman amphitheater, activists said on Thursday.

The extremist group had recaptured the city in December from government troops — nine months after Islamic State was expelled from there in a Russia-backed offensive and while Syrian government forces were focused on retaking the eastern half of the city of Aleppo from rebels.

When they previously controlled Palmyra, Islamic State militants had used the Roman amphitheater for public killings, including those in a video showing 25 boys with pistols shooting captured Syrian soldiers, the ancient colonnades visible in the background.

The Islamic State group has also destroyed ancient temples and other relics in the past, triggering fears among experts for remaining antiquities in the city. The city has been largely emptied out of its residents, following the government offensive in March last year.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and another activist network, the Palmyra Monitor, said the 12 captives were killed on Wednesday. They were captured as they tried to escape the Islamic State offensive on Palmyra last month.

The Observatory said four teachers and government employees were beheaded in the courtyard of the Palmyra museum. The Observatory and the Palmyra Monitor said the others — four opposition fighters and four pro-government troops — were first shot, then beheaded in the Roman amphitheater or in a former Russian base in Palmyra.

The Observatory also said Thursday that Islamic State militants during an ongoing assault in eastern Syria's Deir el-Zour province, hung the heads of six pro-government fighters in public, in different parts of the town of al-Mayadeen. There were no bodies attached to the heads, and it was not clear if the six were killed in battle or after they were taken captive.

Over the past year, Islamic State has suffered defeats in both Syria and Iraq, losing several towns and cities it had captured in 2014. Its surprise re-taking of Palmyra came weeks before it went on a wide assault in Deir el-Zour, against the government controlled part of the city. Activists said it was the Islamic State group's most aggressive onslaught on the government area and a nearby military air base in a year.

The Islamic State group is feared for its reign of terror and gruesome killings, including beheadings, often carried out in public.</s>So-called Islamic State militants have beheaded four people and shot eight dead in the Syrian city of Palmyra, a monitoring group says.

Some of the killings took place in a museum yard near the city's Unesco-listed ancient ruins, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Four teachers and state employees, four government soldiers and four captured rebels were killed, it added.

IS retook the site and nearby city last month, after being pushed out in March.

A report from a local activist group, the Palmyra Monitor, said some of the killings were carried out in the site's Roman amphitheatre.

The group has previously carried out killings in front of crowds in the ancient stone auditorium, including 25 Syrian government soldiers who were shown being shot dead in a video released in 2015.

In August the same year, the jihadists also beheaded the 81-year-old archaeologist, Khaled al-Asaad, who had looked after the Palmyra ruins for 40 years.

IS had seized control of the archaeological site and nearby city, known locally as Tadmur, three months earlier.

They destroyed a number of monuments and, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, killed an estimated 280 people in the 10 months before Russian-backed government forces recaptured the area.

A Russian conductor led a classical concert in the amphitheatre in May 2016.

But while forces allied to President Bashar al-Assad were focused on battling for the city of Aleppo in December, the militants returned and regained control.

US-backed Iraqi forces have pushed the Islamic State group out of large swathes of northern Syria and Iraq in the past year and have been battling to retake the city of Mosul in northern Iraq since October.

On Wednesday, a Russian Defence Ministry official, Lt Gen Sergei Rudskoi, said the Mosul offensive was pushing IS fighters back into eastern Syria.

He said the Islamic State group was shipping large amounts of explosives to Palmyra in order to blow up more of the heritage site.
• Battle for Mosul: The story so far</s>The Islamic State group has killed 12 people it held captive in Syria's ancient Palmyra by shooting and beheading them, with some of the slayings carried out in the city's second-century Roman amphitheater, activists said on Thursday.

The extremist group had recaptured the city in December from government troops — nine months after IS was expelled from there in a Russia-backed offensive and while Syrian government forces were focused on retaking the eastern half of the city of Aleppo from rebels.

When they previously controlled Palmyra, IS militants had used the Roman amphitheater for public killings, including those in a video showing 25 boys with pistols shooting captured Syrian soldiers, the ancient colonnades visible in the background.

The Islamic State group has also destroyed ancient temples and other relics in the past, triggering fears among experts for remaining antiquities in the city. The city has been largely emptied out of its residents, following the government offensive in March last year.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and another activist network, the Palmyra Monitor, said the 12 captives were killed on Wednesday. They were captured as they tried to escape the IS offensive on Palmyra last month.

The Observatory said four teachers and government employees were beheaded in the courtyard of the Palmyra museum. The Observatory and the Palmyra Monitor said the others — four opposition fighters and four pro-government troops — were first shot, then beheaded in the Roman amphitheater or in a former Russian base in Palmyra.

The Observatory also said Thursday that IS militants during an ongoing assault in eastern Syria's Deir el-Zour province, hung the heads of six pro-government fighters in public, in different parts of the town of al-Mayadeen. There were no bodies attached to the heads, and it was not clear if the six were killed in battle or after they were taken captive.

Over the past year, IS has suffered defeats in both Syria and Iraq, losing several towns and cities it had captured in 2014. Its surprise re-taking of Palmyra came weeks before it went on a wide assault in Deir el-Zour, against the government controlled part of the city. Activists said it was the IS group's most aggressive onslaught on the government area and a nearby military air base in a year.

The Islamic State group is feared for its reign of terror and gruesome killings, including beheadings, often carried out in public.</s>The Islamic State group has killed 12 people it held captive in Syria's ancient Palmyra by shooting and beheading them, with some of the slayings carried out in the city's second-century Roman amphitheater, activists said on Thursday.

The extremist group had recaptured the city in December from government troops — nine months after IS was expelled from there in a Russia-backed offensive and while Syrian government forces were focused on retaking the eastern half of the city of Aleppo from rebels.

When they previously controlled Palmyra, IS militants had used the Roman amphitheater for public killings, including those in a video showing 25 boys with pistols shooting captured Syrian soldiers, the ancient colonnades visible in the background.

The Islamic State group has also destroyed ancient temples and other relics in the past, triggering fears among experts for remaining antiquities in the city. The city has been largely emptied out of its residents, following the government offensive in March last year.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and another activist network, the Palmyra Monitor, said the 12 captives were killed on Wednesday. They were captured as they tried to escape the IS offensive on Palmyra last month.

The Observatory said four teachers and government employees were beheaded in the courtyard of the Palmyra museum. The Observatory and the Palmyra Monitor said the others — four opposition fighters and four pro-government troops — were first shot, then beheaded in the Roman amphitheater or in a former Russian base in Palmyra.

The Observatory also said Thursday that IS militants during an ongoing assault in eastern Syria's Deir el-Zour province, hung the heads of six pro-government fighters in public, in different parts of the town of al-Mayadeen. There were no bodies attached to the heads, and it was not clear if the six were killed in battle or after they were taken captive.

Over the past year, IS has suffered defeats in both Syria and Iraq, losing several towns and cities it had captured in 2014. Its surprise re-taking of Palmyra came weeks before it went on a wide assault in Deir el-Zour, against the government controlled part of the city. Activists said it was the IS group's most aggressive onslaught on the government area and a nearby military air base in a year.

The Islamic State group is feared for its reign of terror and gruesome killings, including beheadings, often carried out in public.</s>Islamic State kills 12 in Palmyra, among them teachers, soldiers - monitor

BEIRUT, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Islamic State militants put at least 12 people to death in execution-style killings in the ancient city of Palmyra, which they re-captured from the government for a second time in December, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday.

The jihadist group beheaded four of the people - state employees and teachers - outside a museum, the group said. The eight others - four of them government soldiers and four of them rebel fighters captured elsewhere in Syria - were shot.

Some of the killings took place at an ancient Roman theatre in Palmyra, where Islamic State last year put at least 25 government fighters to death, the Observatory said.

Islamic State captured Palmyra for a second time from the government in December. Government forces and their militia allies, backed by Russian air power, took the city back from Islamic State in March, after first losing it in 2015. (Writing by Tom Perry, editing by Larry King)
ISIL militants execute 12 people in Palmyra, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.