Fierce clashes broke out Monday between Kurdish fighters and Daesh militants near the Iraqi border in the al-Hasakah province and scores of Christian civilians were taken hostage, according to an activist group on the ground.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the militant group attacked a village near Tel Tamer, some 85 kilometers southwest of the Kurdish border city of Qamishli, where they took at lrast 56 Christian men, women and children hostages.
The Observatory said a total of 90 civilians were kidnapped from a sting of villages following clashes. The group added militants also executed two civilians in a village outside Aleppo for "dealing with the Kurds."
Syria's state news agency, SANA, said a total of seven villages in the al-Hasakah governorate were attacked by Daesh, forcing hundreds inhabitants to flee.
The Kurds have launched fiece offensives against the self-titled Islamic State all week, including two major attacks in the al-Hasasknah province on Sunday, pushing back militants and gaining ground in the strategic border region.
News of the Christian kidnappings rolled out late Monday, when some victims' family members tried to rally international support for the situation by contacting Christian-advocacy group A Demand for Action. Aid groups have so far been unsuccessful in freeing the captives, however, as Daesh is reportedly attempting to use them in a prisoner exchange deal to release some of their fighters held by Kurdish forces.
