homeWorld

ISIS slaughters 33 people in largest mass execution in 2017

An Islamic State flag is seen in this picture illustration taken February 18, 2016. | Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

The Islamic State has slaughtered 33 young people in Syria's al-Mayadin desert in what is considered to be the terror group's largest mass execution in 2017.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that ISIS carried out the mass killings in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, Syria on Wednesday morning. The victims, aged between 18 and 25 years old, were killed using sharp tools in the al-Mayadin.

The human rights group noted that the victims had "the marks of the slaughter" on their necks, adding that the execution was carried out "on the outskirts of a hole dug by the organization, and was filled with blood."

None of the victims have been identified, and it is not known whether they were prisoners, fighters of other factions, or members of regime forces.

The slaughter was considered to be the terror group's largest mass execution since 2016 when ISIS carried out mass killings in two batches against two groups of 15 people each in mid-September and the beginning of October that year.

The news about the mass execution came after ISIS reportedly killed 31 people and wounded 40 in overnight attacks on the city of Tikrit, central Iraq. A total of 10 militants, including two suicide bombers, were able to enter the city and carry out the attacks by disguising themselves in police uniforms.

On Tuesday, the terror group released its first ever message directed at President Donald Trump, accusing him of waging a war against Muslims.

"You (America) are bankrupt and the signs of your demise are evident to every eye," ISIS spokesman Abu Hasan al-Muhajir said in the 37-minute message.

"There is no clearer sign of you being ruled by a foolish idiot who does not know what Levant or Iraq or Islam is, who continue(s) his hallucination to express his animosity and war against it (Islam)," he added.

Last week, a group of hackers linked to ISIS released a "kill list" of 8,786 names and addresses in the U.S. and U.K., calling for lone wolf attacks on the targets.

In a video posted online, the hackers calling themselves the United Cyber Caliphate (UCC), urged supporters to: "Kill them wherever you find them."

The SITE Intelligence group is trying to determine the primary source of the list, which also includes individual phone numbers and emails.

"This group has released several 'kill lists' in the past and so far there's been no confirmed incident of someone on the list being directly targeted or attacked," a source from SITE said, according to Fox News.