DHAKA: Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria militants have abducted at least 90 people from Assyrian Christian villages in north-eastern Syria.

A monitor that tracks violence in the country said on Tuesday, reports The Straits Times.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the abductions took place after dawn raids in villages inhabited by the ancient Christian minority near the town of Tel Hmar, a mainly Assyrian town, in the western countryside of the city of Hasaka, a city mainly held by the Kurds.

The latest offensive coincides with a push by Syrian Kurds in north-eastern Syria near the Iraqi border since Sunday that had compounded losses for the militant group in Syria.

BDST: 1535 HRS, FEB 24, 2015