The Islamic State may have been expelled from Al-Qaryatayn, however in its two weeks of occupying the ancient oasis town the militant group wasted no time in murdering those under its rule which it considered undesirable, Al-Masdar News reports.

According to accounts from Syrian pro-government forces who liberated the Al-Qaryatayn, IS militants slaughtered 45 civilian residents in what can be identified as a deliberate massacre.

Reports say that IS targeted civilians who were said to have returned to Al-Qaryatayn after the town’s first liberation by pro-government forces in April 2016.

The jihadist occupiers considered those they killed to be traitors and pro-government spies.

The death toll continues to rise as pro-government forces uncover more corpses in and around the town.