The Islamic State (IS) militants on Sunday released 19 Christian Assyrians they had kidnapped last month, a monitoring group reported.
The 19 people are the first batch of 29 Assyrians the sharia court of the IS exonerated on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, Xinhua reported.
On February 23, the IS abducted 220 Christian Assyrians during an assault it had waged on predominantly Assyrian areas, mainly in the area of Tal Tamr and its countryside in Syria's northeastern province of al-Hasakah.
The fate of the other abductees is still unknown amid reports that the rest of the Assyrians are awaiting trials in the IS courts.
There is no clear reason why would the IS even put the Assyrians on trial.
Also on Sunday, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said the Syrian troops captured as many as 33 towns in the eastern countryside of Hasaka after clashes with the IS.
Mahatma Gandhi was an integral part of South Africa and the country shares an inseparable bond with India, South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane Wednesday told the Indian diaspora youth at the PBD here.
Two masked gunmen suspected to be Islamists Wednesday massacred 12 people after storming a French satirical magazine's office here, killing among others a cartoonist who drew a controversial cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed.
A delegation of 150 Canadians is expected in Ahmedabad next week to participate in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Jan 7-9) and Vibrant Gujarat (Jan 10-12) summit.
Three men have been taken into custody in connection with the shooting of two New York police officers -- including the suspected gunman, a law enforcement official said Tuesday.
US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu member of the US House of Representatives, feels the relationship between India and the US has been energised after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit and wants the two governments to work closely in countering terrorism, including cyber terrorism.
