The latter. They are basically a bunch of undisciplined, foreign amateurs, who are jacked up on amphetamines (Captagon) and religious extremism, who are facing a professional, well experienced army that is fighting for the preservation of its own country. I think that the only time that captured ISIS/Al Queda terrorists are massacred is when the Syrian militias get ahold of them. These are basically trained/armed civilians who have had their towns destroyed and neighbors beheaded by the jihadists.
