IS executes 17 Syrians in oil-rich Deir al-Zour province

The Islamic State (IS) militant group executed a total of 17 Syrians over the past three days in the country's eastern province of Deir al-Zour, a monitoring group reported late on Wednesday.

The terror group's fighters either beheaded or crucified the 17 people in different cities in the oil-rich Deir al-Zour on different charges, such as being snitches to the government forces, or members of anti-IS militants, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The IS has become in control over large swathes of Deir al-Zour, which is close to the Iraqi borders. The extremist group has imposed strict rule in Deir al-Zour and its de facto capital of al- Raqqa in northern Syria.

Separately on Wednesday, the Observatory said 13 children were killed by mortar shell attack against the rebel-held al-Qaboun neighborhood in the countryside of the capital Damascus.

It said the number is expected to rise due to the large number of seriously injured people, stopping short of naming the party responsible for the attack.

Also on Wednesday, violent clashes erupted between the government forces and rebel groups on the outskirts of the Damascus neighborhood of al-Tadamon with no information on casualties.

Meanwhile, the state news agency SANA said the Syrian troops on Wednesday seized control over the eastern part of the Sheikh Miskin village in the southern province of Daraa, where the al- Qaida-linked Nusra Front and like-minded groups unleashed an attack two days earlier to strip the government troops of their positions in Daraa, particularly in Sheikh Miskin due to its strategic location in that part of Syria. Enditem