ISIS attack in central Syria kills 52

Islamic State militants launched an attack in a government-held region of central Syria today, killing 52 people. Local health officials reported 11 women and 17 children among the dead. Some had been beheaded; others had missing limbs. Residents of the villages attacked belong to the Ismaili branch of Shiite Islam. In addition to Christians and other minority groups, ISIS has targeted fellow Muslims it considers apostates for not practicing the “right” version of Islam. Syrian government forces are battling the extremists elsewhere in the country, mostly in Aleppo and the central Homs region. U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led forces are taking the fight to the so-called ISIS capital in Raqqa. According to the Syrian state news agency, government troops repelled the ISIS fighters, but a militant-backed media outlet claims its fighters retained control of two villages. According to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, dozens of people remain missing after the attack.