A SHOCKING video appearing to show a Syrian rebel eating the HEART of a dead
solider has been slammed by human rights groups.
The cannibal was identified as Abu Sakkar - a well-known insurgent from the
city of Homs.
The horrific actions were labelled as a war crime by US-based group Human Rights Watch.
The video, which cannot be independently authenticated, seems to show him cutting out the soldier's heart and biting into it.
Addressing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad the man says: "I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog."
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Abu Sakkar is the leader of a group called the Independent Omar al-Farouq Brigade.
The main Syrian opposition coalition said he would be put on trial.
HRW said those committing war crimes on either side had to know that there was no impunity and that they would be brought to account.
HRW's Peter Bouckaert said: "The mutilation of the bodies of enemies is a war crime. But the even more serious issue is the very rapid descent into sectarian rhetoric and violence."
The human rights group said Abu Sakkar had been filmed before, firing rockets into Shia areas of Lebanon and posing with the bodies of guerrillas from the Lebanese Hezbollah movement killed fighting alongside Syrian government forces.
The video, posted on Sunday, is one of the most gruesome to emerge among the many thrown up by more than two years of carnage in Syria.
The UN says 70,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights puts the death toll at more than 80,000.
Many Syrians have fled the country to escape the fighting and more than a million are registered as refugees, according to the UN. At least 300,000 are estimated to be living in Turkey.
The horrific actions were labelled as a war crime by US-based group Human Rights Watch.
The video, which cannot be independently authenticated, seems to show him cutting out the soldier's heart and biting into it.
Trial ... human rights groups have identified man as Abu Sakkar
Addressing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad the man says: "I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog."
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Abu Sakkar is the leader of a group called the Independent Omar al-Farouq Brigade.
The main Syrian opposition coalition said he would be put on trial.
HRW said those committing war crimes on either side had to know that there was no impunity and that they would be brought to account.
HRW's Peter Bouckaert said: "The mutilation of the bodies of enemies is a war crime. But the even more serious issue is the very rapid descent into sectarian rhetoric and violence."
War crime ... rebel is seen chopping heart out of soldier
The human rights group said Abu Sakkar had been filmed before, firing rockets into Shia areas of Lebanon and posing with the bodies of guerrillas from the Lebanese Hezbollah movement killed fighting alongside Syrian government forces.
The video, posted on Sunday, is one of the most gruesome to emerge among the many thrown up by more than two years of carnage in Syria.
The UN says 70,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights puts the death toll at more than 80,000.
Many Syrians have fled the country to escape the fighting and more than a million are registered as refugees, according to the UN. At least 300,000 are estimated to be living in Turkey.
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