Islamic State ‘abducts 90 Christians in Syria’

ISLAMIC State (IS) has abducted dozens of people from Assyrian Christian villages in north-eastern Syria, a monitoring group says.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at least 90 people were seized in a series of dawn raids near the town of Tal Tamr.

The town is west of Hassakeh, a city mainly controlled by Kurdish forces.

It comes as Syrian Kurdish fighters backed by US-led air strikes continue to advance into IS-held territory.

On Monday, a Kurdish official said IS militants had been forced back to within 5km (3 miles) of the town of Tal Hamis by the Popular Protection Units (YPG).

The Syrian Observatory confirmed the advance by the YPG and said at least 12 IS fighters had been killed on Monday.

Hassakeh province is strategically important in the fight against IS because it borders both Turkey and areas controlled by the group in Iraq.

Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces are also attacking IS positions on the Iraqi side of the frontline, to the east.