A U.S.-led alliance launched air strikes against Islamic State on Thursday in an area of northeast Syria where the militants are now estimated to have abducted at least 220 Assyrian Christians this week, a group monitoring the war reported.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the air strikes targeted Islamic State fighters near the town of Tel Tamr, where the militants, also known as ISIS, had captured 10 Assyrian villages. . .
"What is happening is a threat to our existence," said Ablahd Kourieh, an Assyrian Christian who is deputy head of a Kurdish-led defense council in northeastern Syria, speaking to Reuters from the region via Skype. He estimated the number of abducted Assyrians was even higher, at between 350 and 400.
He called on the U.S.-led alliance to mount air strikes and to arm Kurdish-led forces which are battling Islamic State in the region. He estimated that 3,000 Assyrians had fled from the villages for the main cities of Qamishli and Hasaka.
"We call for bombardment of the terrorists' positions there, and the provision of quality weapons," said Kourieh. He said there had been no contact with Islamic State, which has yet to claim the abductions.
The United States and its allies have carried out hundreds of air strikes in both Iraq and Syria since launching a campaign to "degrade and destroy" Islamic State last year. Washington on Wednesday condemned the attacks against Christians, which it said included the burning of homes and churches and abduction of women, children and the elderly.
Online article by Oliver Holmes of REUTERS -- http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/26/us-mideast-crisis-syria-christians-idUSKBN0LU0KX20150226
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment