ISIS kidnaps at least 220 Assyrian civilians in Syria

Middle East, News February 26, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

The ISIS has kidnapped at least 220 Assyrian civilians in the northeast of Syria over the past three days, a report says.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Thursday, the Assyrian civilians were abducted from 11 villages in Tel Tamer countryside in Hasakah Province in northeastern Syria.

The hostages have been taken to Abd al-Aziz mount southwest of Tel Tamer, a town located about 20 kilometers (12 miles) to the northwest of Hasakah, the Britain-based group added.

Reports say that negotiations are underway to prepare the ground for the release of the hostages.

According to a Syrian Christian group that represents a number of nongovernmental organizations inside and outside the country, ISIS abducted at least 150 people from Assyrian Christian villages during Monday dawn raids on villages that are home to the ancient Christian minority west of the provincial capital, Hasakah. It said the Assyrian Christians were taken from villages near Tel Tamer.

Over the past months, Assyrians, who come from one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, have been under increasing threat by the ISIS terrorists.

The ISIS militants, with members from several Western countries, control some parts of Syria and Iraq, and have been carrying out horrific acts of violence such as public decapitations and crucifixions against all communities.

IA/NN/HMV