"We swear to God we will eat your hearts and livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog," the insurgent says as he bends over a blurred body and cuts out the heart in the amateur footage uploaded to YouTube.
"We are the heroes of Baba Amr," he says, referring to a rebel stronghold of the central city of Homs that has been flattened by President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
The man, identified in the video as a member of the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army, then stands up, raises his dagger in one hand and the heart in the other.
The authenticity of the footage, which was uploaded to YouTube yesterday by a user named "SyrianGirl War", cannot be verified.
More From This Section
It can be seen at:
https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?v=Z9IRn5b0aik.
The Syria conflict flared when forces loyal to Assad launched a brutal crackdown on Arab Spring-inspired democracy protests that erupted in March 2011.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based watchdog, says more than 80,000 people have since been killed, with numerous incidents of mass killings and other atrocities.