ISIS releases 37 as Syrian christians

A Syrian man carries a wounded child following a reported airstrike by government forces in the rebel-held area of Douma, east of the capital Damascus, on Saturday. The Islamic State released 37 Syrian Christians on Saturday, most of them women, who were among more than 200 people kidnapped in February, an NGO said. The group of Assyrian Christians consisted of 27 women and 10 men, most of them elderly, the Assyrian Monitor for Human Rights said. They arrived on Saturday morning in the town of Tal Tamr in Khabur region of Hasakeh province, north-eastern Syria, the group said. The releases were confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said most of those freed were from other towns in Khabur. The former hostages were among a group of 220 Assyrians captured by the ISIS when they overran parts of the region in February. Since then, a trickle of prisoners has been released, with between 140 and 150 believed to be still held by the ISIS. The Assyrian Monitor said the releases were the result of negotiations carried out by the church.