Islamic State Forces Kill 40 in Syria

Reports indicate that during an attack by Islamic State (ISIS) militants on a village in central Syria, 40 Syrian citizens, most of whom were civilians, were killed. According to a report on April 1 by the Associated Press, the village of 'Al-Mabouja', which is under the control of the central Syrian government, witnessed an attack by ISIS forces. The news of this attack was reported by both Syrian state television and media close to the opposition. The report states that ISIS forces released a video a week ago showing the beheading of eight Shia Muslim men in Hama. On Tuesday, ISIS began its attacks on the village of Al-Mabouja, which is home to Alawites and Christian minorities. According to the Associated Press, the people in these areas support Bashar al-Assad, who is also an Alawite, and do not align with the opposition forces. Syrian state television reported that in the attack on Al-Mabouja, 44 people, including women and children, were killed by ISIS forces. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 37 civilians were killed during the retreat of ISIS forces. This group stated that Syrian government forces responded to the ISIS attack and pushed them back. ISIS forces are concentrated in the city of Raqqa, and although they have been forced to retreat in Iraq, they are increasing their operations in Syrian territory. The report also indicates that Syrian military forces fired ground-to-ground missiles towards Idlib. After four days of fighting, Idlib has fallen into the hands of Ahrar al-Sham, a group linked to al-Qaeda in Syria. Idlib, with about 165,000 inhabitants, is the second largest city in Syria to fall under the control of ISIS after Raqqa. It has been reported that around 30,000 people have been displaced due to the attacks in Idlib, and there has been an increase in power outages and water shortages in the area, which may lead to the closure of schools and hospitals.