Video purports to show rebels' atrocities

A video on the Internet purportedly shows anti-government fighters in Syria executing prisoners, which is evidence of a war crime, human rights activists say. The video, which couldn't be independently verified, attracted the attention of Amnesty International and other rights groups that say it is another instance that both sides in the Syrian conflict were committing atrocities, The New York Times reported Thursday. In the video, 10 prisoners are shown being forced to lie either next to or on top of each other inside a building. Their captors, anti-government fighters who cannot be identified, are yelling "Allah Akhbar!" ("God is great!") while kicking the prisoners and corralling them into one area before opening fire. "This shocking footage depicts a potential war crime in progress, and demonstrates an utter disregard for international humanitarian law by the armed group in question," said Ann Harrison, deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa program. "We will continue to investigate the incident and once again urge all sides to respect the laws of war and to refrain from torturing, ill-treating or killing their prisoners." The alleged executions occurred in Idlib province. No group had admitted to carrying out the atrocities, the BBC reported, but it has been alleged that al-Nusra Front, an extremist group, was responsible. The military kept up its airstrikes across Syria, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reporting more than 150 people killed in fighting Thursday. Britain-based Amnesty International said more than 36,000 people have been killed since protests against President Bashar Assad began in March 2011.