Syrian troops have found a mass grave containing about 40 bodies in the historic town of Palmyra following its recapture from the extremist group Islamic State (IS), state news agency SANA reports.
SANA said the grave contained the bodies of men, women, and children. Some of the bodies had been beheaded, the report said.
A source told AFP that 24 of the victims were civilians.
Some of the bodies have been identified.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syrian, said IS militants executed at least 280 people during their occupation of the city.
Syrian troops, backed by Russian air strikes, recently retook Palmyra, which had been under Islamic State control for 10 months.
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