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.
Saudi Arabia, the fifth-largest importer of fresh vegetables from India, has banned the import of Indian chili due to the presence of high pesticide residues in it, media reported Friday.
Former Boko Haram negotiator, Shehu Sani has said the group plans to exchange the 300 kidnapped schoolgirls for its "comrades" in jails in Nigeria, media reported Friday.
A total of 1,281 people died of infectious diseases on the Chinese mainland in April, the country's National Health and Family Planning Commission announced Thursday.
Pakistan Thursday conducted successful training launch of a short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile, capable of delivering nuclear and conventional warheads, the military said.
The Pakistan foreign ministry Thursday said an employee of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested this week for carrying ammunition does not enjoy diplomatic immunity.
