ISIS kidnaps at least 90 Christians in Syria

by Will Hall, | 24 February, 2015

Turkish soldiers and an army tank take position at the new site of the Suleyman Shah tomb near the northern Syrian village of Esme, on the Syrian-Turkish border February 24, 2015. By extracting dozens of its soldiers surrounded by Islamist fighters in Syria, Turkey has warded off a potential crisis and shown its ability to maneuver between rival warring parties, including Islamic State. Several hundred Turkish ground troops, backed by tanks and drones, mounted an eight-hour operation on Saturday night to evacuate the 38 soldiers guarding the tomb of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire. The fact there were no clashes appeared to suggest that Islamic State fighters surrounding the site were either warned or coerced by Turkey not to try to disrupt the incursion, the first it has mounted since Syria's civil war broke out in 2011. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the tomb had been temporarily moved to a new site within Syria north of the village of Esme, close to the Turkish border. | REUTERS/Stringer

DAMASCUS, Syria (Christian Examiner) – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) is reporting that up to 90 Assyrian Christians have been abducted by Islamic State terrorists from villages in the countryside around the town of Tal Tamer in Syria.

The London-based group earlier published a lower number, citing sources as saying they "heard via wireless devices IS members" claiming to have detained "'56 crusaders.'"

In the latest update, SOHR also said opposition forces had had some success against the jihadists, claiming 14 terrorists were killed "by U.S. led coalition air strikes" on IS locations east of Tal Hamis.

However, the group added that other coalition action caused civilian casualties.

"Eight civilians, including 5 children were killed by Peshmerga bombardment on Salima village," SOHR shared. The Peshmerga are military forces of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The capture of the 90 Assyrian Christians comes just weeks after IS terrorists beheaded 21 Coptic Christians in Libya. That atrocity led to an international outcry and military responses from Egypt and Libya.

Like us on

Latest News