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 Pakistani high court has granted pardon to the husband of the singer Ghazala Javed, who had killed her two years ago after he was forgiven by the family, media reported Friday.
Four terrorists armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns attacked the Indian consulate in Herat in western Afghanistan in the early hours of Friday. All the attackers were killed, officials said, adding that the Indian staff was safe.
With Narendra Modi set to assume office as India's Prime Minister Monday, the US has expressed keenness to engage a man it had shunned for over a decade, following his "resounding" victory.
Thailand's National Peace and Order Maintaining Council (NPOMC), the military coup party, announced Thursday that the country's constitution was temporarily suspended.
