U.S. leads strikes on IS after group seizes 220 Assyrian Christians

The raids struck areas around the town of Tal Tamr in the Hasakeh province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, without giving information on possible casualties. The town remains under the control of Kurdish forces, but at least 10 surrounding villages have been seized by IS, along with the captives. Many of those abducted are said to be women, children or elderly. The United States and United Nations denounced the mass abduction of Christians — the first of its kind in the country — and demanded their release.

We’ve received around 200 families who are being hosted in local homes. The people arriving are desperate. They are coming with nothing. They left everything behind.

Jean Tolo, of Qamishli’s Assyrian Organisation for Relief and Development

Human rights groups are sounding the alarm that the Islamic State is on a quest to eradicate ethnic and religious minorities. Iraq’s U.N. ambassador told the U.N. Security Council last week that Islamic State had committed genocide, while No Peace Without Justice has said that they’ve committed crimes against humanity.

ISIL’s latest targeting of a religious minority is only further testament to its brutal and inhumane treatment of all those who disagree with its divisive goals and toxic beliefs.

Jen Psaki, U.S. State Department spokeswoman