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Tribal leaders seek release of Christian Assyrians kidnapped in northern Syria: activists

Xinhua, February 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Tribal leaders in northern Syria met on Friday with Christian clergymen to mediate the release of around 220 Christian Assyrians abducted by the Islamic State (IS), a monitoring group reported, citing sources.

Assyrian leaders informed the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights about the ongoing efforts for the release of the abductees, saying that the IS group has not yet executed any of the snatched Assyrians.

The IS militants recently unleashed attacks on tens of predominantly Assyrian villages, including Tal Hurmoz, Tal Shamiram, Tal Rumman, Tal Nasra and many more towns in the countryside of the Hasaka province.

Earlier on Friday, Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned the IS attacks on Assyrian areas, noting that the recent attacks add to the series of "crimes" taken by the terrorist groups, which often target religious places, holy shrines and ancient cemeteries.

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