BEIRUT (AP) – The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local):
12:30 p.m.
A senior Syrian official says the killing of more than 60 civilians in a town taken back by government troops from Islamic State militants is a “shocking massacre.”
Talal Barazi, the governor of Homs province where the discovery was made, says the search and documentation of those killed in the town of Qaryatayn is still under way.
Barazi told The Associated Press on Monday that most of the bodies were of townspeople who were government employees or were affiliated with Syria’s ruling Baath party.
Barazi says at least 13 residents remain missing while six bodies have not been identified.
He says the killings went on for the three weeks that IS was in town and “terrorized” its residents.
Government forces regained control of Qaryatayn on Saturday.
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11:15 a.m.
Syrian activists are reporting that at least 65 bodies of civilians have been found in a central town retaken by government forces from the Islamic State group. Most of the victims are believed to have been killed by IS.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the number of those killed in Qaryatayn, in central Homs province, is likely to rise.
The Observatory says most of the dead were killed during the militant group’s three-week seizure of the town. Syrian troops and allied fighters regained control of the town on Saturday.
The activist-run Palmyra Coordination Committee has published the names of the killed. It says at least 35 of the victims were found shot and their bodies dumped in a shaft.
IS has suffered major setbacks in recent months.
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