A Syrian man is on trial in Germany, accused of involvement in Islamic State atrocities including beheadings in his home country.
DUESSELDORF: A Syrian man went on trial in Germany on Thursday accused of involvement in bloody crimes committed by the Islamic State group in Syria.
The 33-year-old, partially named as Ahmad A., faces charges including belonging to a foreign terrorist organisation and being an accomplice to murder at the Duesseldorf court.
Prosecutors allege he was part of an IS unit between 2014 and 2017.
They say he was active in patrols around the eastern Syrian town of Kishkiya and worked as a guide for IS foreign fighters.
His unit is alleged to have arrested numerous men from a particular tribe in August 2014.
Two of the detainees were immediately beheaded, while the rest were abused and tortured.
Ahmad A. is suspected of helping enable the killings by keeping watch for the unit with a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
The other detainees were moved to another location the next morning, where some of them were also killed.
He was arrested in January 2025 in the town of Monheim am Rhein in western Germany, where he was living.
The trial is expected to last until at least late March.
Germany is home to around a million Syrians, many of whom arrived during the huge migrant influx that peaked in 2015.
Several Syrians have previously stood trial in Germany for crimes committed in the Syrian conflict.
These include individuals who were members of armed groups or part of the security forces of former president Bashar al-Assad.
