IS releases 270 of 400 civilians abducted in east Syria: Monitor

The Islamic State (IS) group released 270 of more than 400 civilians it had abducted during its assault on the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor late on Tuesday, a monitor said.

Those released included women, children under 14 years old, and the elderly, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

He said they had been freed after undergoing questioning by IS to determine whether they had ties to the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.

The militants stormed the government-held areas of Ayash and Beghayliyeh at the weekend, beheading more than 150 people including Syrian army soldiers and their families, according to independent news service ARA News on Sunday. Middle East Eye could not verify the alleged executions.

IS still holds 130 civilians, mostly teenage and adult men, whom Abdel Rahman said were being questioned.

"They will not go back into Deir Ezzor city, but will be spread out among local tribes in the province," Abdel Rahman told AFP.

"If IS sees that they have no ties to the Syrian government, they will take a religious course and will be released," he said.

IS launched a multi-pronged assault on Deir Ezzor city on Saturday, with dozens of its fighters carrying out suicide bomb attacks as they stormed government positions.

“At least 40 soldiers and 130 civilians were brutally killed by ISIS militants in Deir ez-Zor,” local media activist Ahmed Helwani told ARA News. 

“The militants broke into the regime-held neighborhoods of Ayash and Begayliya, and attacked people in their homes,” Helwani said.

The group is now in control of 60 percent of the city and has tightened its siege around it by capturing surrounding towns.

As IS overran al-Baghaliyeh, an agricultural area northwest of the city, it abducted another 50 people, mostly men, Abdel Rahman said, but it was not immediately clear whether they were civilians or government fighters.