The News Minute | February 24, 2015 | 05:32 pm IST

Damascus: At least 90 Syrian Christians of the Assyrian minority have been confirmed kidnapped by Islamic State (IS) militants from two Assyrian towns in northern Syria, Xinhua news agency reported citing a monitoring group Tuesday.

The IS militants Monday snatched the 90 Assyrians from the towns of Tal Shamiram and Tal Hurmoz in the countryside of the predominantly Kurdish city of Hasaka in northern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) cited sources as saying.

It noted that the two towns are close to the town of Tal Tamer, where intense clashes have recently been raging between the IS and Kurdish militants of the Peoples' Protection Units (YPG).

Meanwhile, the SOHR added that 14 IS fighters were killed by the US-led anti-terror coalition in the southern countryside of al-Qamishly province in northern Syria.

The IS repeatedly attacked minority groups across Syria and most recently in Libya, where the Sunni radical group abducted and executed over 20 Egyptian Coptic Christians, branding them the "worshippers of the cross".

With IANS