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.
A Dutch military plane carrying the remains of victims onboard the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 arrived at the Eindhoven Air Base in Netherlands Friday....
Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala played a crucial role in ending the impasse between India and Pakistan during the retreat at Dhulikhel near here Thursday on the sidelines of the 18th Saarc Summit.
Ahead of the proposed installation of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the British parliament, a section of the Indian diaspora has expressed scepticism about the British government's motive behind the move and instead favoured redressal of their concerns as a real tribute to the Father of the Nation.
An uneasy calm returned to Ferguson Thursday after two nights of unrest over a grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in August.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is spending a quiet Thanksgiving at the White House where the belly-stuffing menu featured all the holiday's basics.
