BEIRUT (REUTERS) - Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants have abducted at least 220 people from Assyrian Christian villages in northeastern Syria during a three day offensive, a monitor that tracks violence in Syria said on Thursday.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the abductions took place when Islamic State took 10 villages inhabited by the ancient Christian minority near the city of Hasaka, a city mainly held by the Kurds.