Activists say Islamic State group releases 37 Syrian Christians abducted in

Islamic State has released 37 elderly Assyrian Christians who were among about 200 seized by the militants in February in northeastern Syria, two human rights monitoring groups said on Saturday.

They appeared to have been carried out by Russian planes participating in an aerial campaign that began on September 30, the Britain-based group said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says elders from Arab tribes had mediated with the militants for their release.

Since then, a trickle of prisoners has been released, with between 140 and 150 believed to be still held by IS.

Meanwhile, the Islamic State group freed a group of Assyrian Christians who had been taken hostage in northeastern Syria, an NGO said.

In late May, the Kurdish forces had chased the jihadists away from 14 Assyrian Christian villages that they had controlled since February.

The conflicts in Syria and Iraq has threatened Assyrians and other Christian minorities, forcing many to flee and seek asylum in the West. “They have arrived to Tal Tamer on a bus and were welcomed by the priest of the Saints Church in Tal Tamer in Hasakah province”, the Assyrian Human Rights Network said in its report.

The Observatory also said the death toll from an air raid Friday night on the Bou Kamal city killed 71 people, among them six children.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on the ground to monitor the war in Syria, said at least six children were among the dead. The group initially reported that the Thursday attack killed 25 people.

At least 24 people have been killed and many critically wounded in airstrikes on Douma on the outskirts of Damascus, a monitoring group says.

Russia, Syria’s government and a US-led coalition are all carrying out bombing in Syria, sometimes in the same areas.