Islamic State group slaughters 700 Syrian tribe members

At least 700 members of a Syrian tribe fighting the Islamic State militants in eastern Syria have been killed by the terror group during the past two weeks, a monitory group said.

Al Jazeera reports the killing spree happened in several villages inhabited by the al-Sheitat tribe in Deir Ezzor province, where the tribe is from, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.

The monitory group said that majority of victims-mainly Sheitat tribesmen-were beheaded after being captured by the Islamic State group.

The anti-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad activist group said that the Sheitat tribe members killed included 100 fighters, while the rest were civilians.

The observatory group said that the fate of 1,800 other members of the tribe remained unknown as of yet.

The men were executed following failed negotiations between the two sides, and after Sheitat tribal elders refused to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, the report said.