Syria Rebels Execute 20 Soldiers in Aleppo

Syrian rebels have summarily executed at least 20 soldiers in the embattled northern city of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.

Captured at a military compound during a rebel attack in the eastern district of Hanano, the soldiers had their eyes blindfolded and hands tied behind their backs before they were lined up and shot, sometime over the weekend, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Amateur video posted on YouTube and distributed by the Observatory shows some 20 bodies laid out next to each other on a pavement. Many of the men's heads are covered in blood, and some are wearing jeans rather than full military attire.

One of the rebels standing next to the bodies holds up his hand to make a victory sign. "Allahu akbar!" (God is greatest), cries another, as a third shouts out at the bodies: "You dogs! You low lives!"

A U.N. inquiry has accused the army, pro-government militia and the rebels of committing war crimes but has said that violations by the rebels are on a much lower scale.