SYRIAN PoWS: The Islamic State (IS) took over Tabqa airport Sunday, the last remaining regime military base in A-Raqqa province and reportedly captured more than 20 Syrian army soldiers, including three majors.

The picture above, widely circulated on social media Wednesday, was posted by an IS-affiliated account and reportedly shows some of the soldiers under the caption “Alawites from Tabqa airport...in Islamic State hands.”

IS detained the solders as they attempted to flee from Tabqa airport, according to the monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The same day the Islamic State took Tabqa airport, IS-affiliated Twitter handles began posting pictures reportedly showing decapitated soldiers who had attempted to escape with accompanying commentaries such as “hell awaits the heads of these fleeing Alawites.”

In a similar vein, IS summarily executed other captured regime soldiers, decapitating some and publicizing their heads on social media following the capture of regime brigades 93 and 17, also located in A-Raqqa, this summer.

The Islamic State has taken to hanging the heads in a-Naeem circle in A-Raqqa city.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group, released a report Tuesday concluding that the Islamic State is guilty of the most brutal means of torture.

“IS has arrested people because of their opinions, used violent means of torture, sometimes torturing people to death, in addition to methodically cutting off heads and terrifying people with them in public, and there is proof IS has executed prisoners en masse...all of which constitute war crimes whose perpetrators and enablers must be brought to account.”

-August 27, 2014

For more from Syria Direct, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.