ISIS captures dozens of Syrian Christians

Harold Maass, The Week US's avatar
By
published
A makeshift shrine in Iraq.
(Image credit: (Matt Cardy/Getty News))

Islamic State militants have taken as many as 100 Assyrian Christian hostages from northern Syrian villages, the activist groups A Demand for Action and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Tuesday. ISIS fighters overran several villages, including one named Tal Shamiram, on Monday, and escaping villagers told activists about the hostages. ISIS forces in the area are facing increasing pressure, with U.S.-led airstrikes as well as simultaneous offensives by the Syrian government and rival rebel groups.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Harold Maass, The Week US
Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.