Islamic State Seizes Syrian Army Base in Raqqa

The Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS, took over a Syrian army base outside of Raqqa and killed at least 85 soldiers. The terrorist group posted pictures of the dead bodies before and after they beheaded the soldiers. The siege started on July 24, and the terrorists announced on Saturday they are in full control of the base.

Division 17 of the Syrian army occupied the base. According to the AFP, 50 were executed, 19 killed in a double suicide bombing, and 16 killed in an assault on Thursday. The men killed “Gen. Samir Aslan, the head of military intelligence in Raqqa province, and Gen. Miziad Salameh, the commander of Regiment 121.”

“Some of the executed troops were beheaded, and their bodies and severed heads put on display in Raqa city,” said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Leader Rami Abdel Rahman.

Islamic State activist Hammam al Raqqa told the McClatchy Foreign Staff that ISIS’s next targets are Homs and Damascux. He also admitted fighters in ISIS included people from Azerbaijan, Chechnya, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.

ISIS took to social media and proudly displayed the dead soldiers. Most of the pictures are too graphic to show, but the Twitter account @raqqa_w also showed pictures of weapons the jihadists seized.