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.
India Friday released 37 Pakistani prisoners lodged in Indian jails, reciprocating the gesture made by the Pakistani government earlier. The Pakistani prisoners, including 32 fishermen, have reached home.
American Sikhs have hired a political consultant, who served as a strategist for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, for the first-ever exploration of creating positive perception about Sikhs among Americans.
Islamic organisations in Malaysia have started a boycott of chocolate manufacturer Cadbury after discovering traces of pig DNA in two of its chocolate bars, a regional TV channel reported Thursday.
McDonald's, the multinational fast food chain, has asked protestors in Thailand to stop using its logo in protests against the military coup that completed a week Thursday.
