IS abduct 90 Christians in Syria

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© epa r Hoslet, EPA
Iraqi Christians demonstrate in Brussels

Islamic State extremists have abducted at least 90 Assyrian Christians in the north-east of Syria, a monitoring group said Tuesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the abductions took place after jihadists attacked the villages of Tel Hermez and Tel Shamiran, west of al-Hassakeh, early the previous morning, reports dpa.
Residents in al-Hassakeh, the provincial capital, said that fleeing civilians arriving in the city spoke of churches being burned and abuses against residents.
The Islamic State attack was followed by fierce clashes with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the Britain-based Observatory said.
Assyrian Christians have for centuries lived in several dozen villages along the banks of the Khabur river west of al-Hassakeh.
Local sources say that the river forms the effective boundary between areas controlled by the YPG and those held by Islamic State, and that many civilians had already left the villages on the south bank.
A local Assyrian militia has been fighting to defend the Khabur villages alongside the Kurds.
The Assyrians follow an ancient Eastern Christian rite and speak a language close to Aramaic. Their largest communities are in north-eastern Syria and nearby areas of northern Iraq.

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