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.
The mastermind behind the Karachi airport terror attacks was killed Sunday during air strikes carried out by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in North Waziristan, a media report said.
As America witnessed its 74th school shooting this week since the "massacre of innocents" at an elementary school 18 months ago, President Barack Obama said he was ashamed that America can't put a stop to them.
An influential Shiite cleric Friday called on Iraqis to take up arms against insurgent groups that have taken control of large parts of the country, his representative said.
Ukraine is ready to compromise to resolve its natural gas supply dispute with Russia, Naftogaz Andrey Kobolev, head of the state-run energy company, said here Friday.
A campaign to raise awareness against sexual exploitation of minors in Brazil during the 2014 FIFA World Cup was launched Thursday by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Protestors in Sao Paulo clashed with the police in an anti-World Cup demonstration Thursday, hours before the city plays host to the tournament opener, a media report said.
