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1st LD: IS militants kidnap 400 people in Syria's Deir al-Zour

Xinhua, January 17, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Islamic State (IS) militant group kidnapped a total of 400 people from a town its militants had stormed in Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported on Sunday.

The IS militants stormed the town of al-Bughailiyeh on Saturday, killing over 280 people, mostly women and children, and tossing their bodies in the Euphrates River in the countryside of Deir al-Zour, near Iraq.

The IS attack on the neighborhood was carried out earlier on Saturday, with several suicide bombers blowing themselves up at government forces' positions, the TV said.

Syria's state news agency SANA also reported the mass killing, saying tens of people were massacred by IS in al-Bughailiyeh.

Meanwhile, the oppositional Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based watchdog group, said the IS snuck into al-Bughailiyeh earlier on Saturday, killing tens of government forces.

The IS attack on the neighborhood comes amid renewed battles between the IS and the Syrian military forces in several areas in Deir al-Zour, including the vicinity of the main airbase near the Iraqi borders. Endit