BBC Online :
Islamic State (IS) has abducted dozens of Assyrian Christians from villages in north-eastern Syria, activists say.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at least 90 men, women and children were seized in a series of dawn raids near the town of Tal Tamr.
Some Assyrians managed to escape and made their way east to the largely Kurdish-controlled city of Hassakeh.
It comes as Syrian Kurdish fighters backed by US-led air strikes continue to advance into IS-held territory.
Hassakeh province is strategically important in the fight against IS because it borders both Turkey and areas controlled by the group in Iraq.
Activists reported that IS fighters swept through a string of villages along the banks of the Khabur river around dawn on Monday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the four-year conflict in Syria, said at least 90 Assyrians had been
taken captive, most of them from the village of Tal Shamran, about 45km (28 miles) from Hassakeh.
The head of the group A Demand For Action, which focuses on religious minorities in the Middle East, said between 70 and 100 were seized.
Nuri Kino told the Associated Press that about 3,000 managed to escape and had sought refuge in Hassakeh and Qamishli, to the north-east.
Islamic State (IS) has abducted dozens of Assyrian Christians from villages in north-eastern Syria, activists say.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at least 90 men, women and children were seized in a series of dawn raids near the town of Tal Tamr.
Some Assyrians managed to escape and made their way east to the largely Kurdish-controlled city of Hassakeh.
It comes as Syrian Kurdish fighters backed by US-led air strikes continue to advance into IS-held territory.
Hassakeh province is strategically important in the fight against IS because it borders both Turkey and areas controlled by the group in Iraq.
Activists reported that IS fighters swept through a string of villages along the banks of the Khabur river around dawn on Monday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the four-year conflict in Syria, said at least 90 Assyrians had been
taken captive, most of them from the village of Tal Shamran, about 45km (28 miles) from Hassakeh.
The head of the group A Demand For Action, which focuses on religious minorities in the Middle East, said between 70 and 100 were seized.
Nuri Kino told the Associated Press that about 3,000 managed to escape and had sought refuge in Hassakeh and Qamishli, to the north-east.
