Former US-backed rebel group behind east Aleppo massacre

BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:00 P.M.) – The Syrian Arab Army discovered the corpses of 100 soldiers inside a local school on Friday after their forces entered the strategic Al-Sukkari District of east Aleppo.

The soldiers were reportedly taken hostage by the jihadist rebels of Harakat Nouriddeen Al-Zinki and Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham during their four year rule over the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo City.

With the help of several social media users, Al-Masdar News was able to identify some of the corpses of the fallen soldiers.

https://twitter.com/tarek_oo7/status/812436227156770816

ONe of the soldiers was videotaped by Syrian opposition activists upon his capture just days before he was summarily executed by their own rebel forces.

It was 2 groups that the US considers "moderate", Ahrar al-Sham & Noureddin Zinki, who executed 100 #Syria/n soldiers b4 evacuating #Aleppo pic.twitter.com/mWcXanv866

— Ibn Walid (@walid970721) December 24, 2016

In the video above, militants from Harakat Nouriddeen Al-Zinki and Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham can be seen heckling like captured soldier; they even go as far as to reveal their own organizations.

Initially, it was believed that Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham (formerly Jabhat Al-Nusra) was behind this massacre in east Aleppo; however, it was later revealed to be Ahrar Al-Sham and Nouriddeen Al-Zinki after the video above was discovered.

Harakat Nouriddeen Al-Zinki was once a U.S. sponsored rebel group that was fighting the Syrian Arab Army in the Aleppo Governorate; they were entrusted with U.S. manufactured anti-Tank TOW missiles that they later supplied jihadist rebel factions with.

Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham has repeatedly attempted to get into the West’s good graces by presenting themselves as “moderate” rebels fighting the Syrian government – they have failed to do so.

Both of these groups have not been designated as a terrorist organization by western states, despite the fact they both work closely with Al-Qaeda affiliated militants.

Nouriddeen Al-Zinki militants were responsible for beheading the 13 year old Palestinian boy, ‘Abdullah Tayseer Al-‘Issa, inside the Handarat Refugee Camp in late September this year – the men responsible for this crime have not been punished by the Syrian opposition.