News Digest

IS kidnaps 90 Christians - including children - from Syrian villages

Islamic State militants have kidnapped dozens of people from Christian villages in Syria, a human rights watchdog has said. The militants stormed at least two villages inhabited by ancient Assyrian Christians, taking some 90 civilians captive, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Nuri Kino, the head of the activist group A Demand For Action, quoted villagers who fled the attacks as saying between 70 and 100 people are being held.

Islamic State are losing in several areas so they want to wage an attack on a new area.

Retired Jordanian general Fayez Dwiri

They follow heavy fighting in the area close to the Turkish and Iraqi border. Syria’s SANA state news agency said IS overran seven villages on Monday, forcing hundreds to flee. Kurdish troops have proved to be effective in the fight against IS, which seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq last year. They have been backed by US-led airstrikes, which in the last few days have targeted militants in Hasaka. The abductions come just over a week after IS published a video purporting to show the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya.