Islamic State Abducts 230 Christians and Sunni Muslims from Strategic Syrian Town

The self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) has reportedly kidnapped more than 200 people from the Syrian town of al-Qaryatain, which the militant group seized this week after deadly clashes with forces loyal to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

A total of 230 residents, including dozens of Christians, were abducted by IS fighters after they succeeded in taking the town located in the central province of Homs, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

SOHR spokesman Bebars al-Talawy was more detailed in providing numbers, telling the Associated Press that 60 Christians were taken, while stating that the remaining victims were Sunni Muslims.

IS began its siege of al-Qaryatain on Wednesday morning with a series of suicide attacks at military checkpoints in the town located southwest of Palmyra — a UNESCO World Heritage site that saw its shrines destroyed by the militant group in June.

A video purporting to contain footage of pro-IS fighters as they entered al-Qaryatain shows footage of armed fighters as artillery is heard in the distance, as well as scenes of the streets inside the town shot from a moving vehicle.

(Video via Aamaq News Agency)

"IS seized al-Qaryatain town in the southeastern countryside of Homs after violent clashes with pro-regime forces and loyalist fighters," SOHR head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

"The control of al-Qaryatain allows ISIS to link the areas under its control in the eastern countryside of Homs with the areas under its control in the eastern countryside of Qalamun, and allows it to transfer fighters and supplies between the two regions," he said, according to the AFP. According to Rahman, 23 IS fights were killed along with 37 Syrian army troops during this week's ambush.

The town is thought to be home to about 40,000 people, including Sunni Muslims and Christians who reportedly co-existed peacefully, as well as thousands of people who have fled fighting in other parts of Syria.

Wednesday's takeover of al-Qaryatain marked IS's first major offensive since the storming of Palmyra in May.

Earlier this year, the group abducted more than 200 Assyrian Christians from the Hassakeh province in northeastern Syria after the militants attacked farming communities along the Khabur River. While some have been released, most remain unaccounted for.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.