ISIS Militants Kidnaps At Least 90 People From Christian Villages In Syria

Islamic State militants have kidnapped at least 90 people after sweeping through Christian villages in Syria, it has been revealed. The abductions are said to have taken place after ISIS seized two Assyrian communities from Kurdish forces in the northeast province of Hassakeh. Dawn raids on Monday are said to have spread 'panic' in the villages, inhabited by the ancient Christian minority along the banks of the Khabur River near the town of Tel Hmar.

Most of the captives are said to have came from the village of Tal Shamiram, located 50 miles miles) southwest of the Hassakeh provincial capital of Qamishli, with others taken from Tal Hermuz.

The kidnappings were revealed by the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The latest offensive coincides with a push by Syrian Kurds in the northeast near the Iraqi border since Sunday that had compounded losses for the militant group in Syria.

Sources are reported to have told the human rights watchdog that jihadists swooped to abduct dozens of civilians from the village of Tal Shamiram. Initial reports put the figure at 56 - but others said the number was much higher.

The International Business Times quoted Nuri Kino, founder of A Demand for Action (ADFA), as saying the Syrian villages had been attacked at 5am with 3,000 people 'displaced'. The organisation, which campaigns for Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syriacs in the country, said 'refugees and fighters' had been in touch with relatives in Sweden, Germany and Canada to confirm the figures.

Mr Kino said between 70 and 100 people - mostly women and children - had been taken away while the men that were abducted were transported to the Abd al-Aziz mountains.

Sources: IB Times | DailyMail