Terrorists from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have kidnapped at least 70 Assyrian Christians after raiding their villages according to the activist group A Demand For Action, the Associated Press (AP) reported today.

The latest assault began before dawn on Monday, when the militants swept through the villages nestled along the banks of Khabur River near the town of Tal Tamr in Hassakeh province. The area is predominantly inhabited by Assyrians, an indigenous Christian people who trace their roots back to the ancient Mesopotamians.

During the raids, the militants took between 70 and 100 Assyrians captive, said Nuri Kino, the head of the activist group A Demand For Action, which focuses on religious minorities in the Middle East. He said some 3,000 people managed to flee the onslaught and have sought refuge in the cities of Hassakeh and Qamishli.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing its network of activists in Syria, estimates the number of those kidnapped to be 90.

The AP reported that women and children were among those kidnapped. ISIS has been known to sell captured women as concubines for its fighters.

A video (embedded below) purportedly showing members of ISIS parading the captives though a crowd has been uploaded to YouTube.

Last week, ISIS terrorists released a video showing the beheadings of 21 Coptic Christians, prompting retaliatory airstrikes from Egypt against ISIS positions.

This past December, Benajamin Weinthal, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, observed that with spread of Islamic extremists, the Christians in the Middle East face an “existential struggle.”

[Photo: DocumentingNews / YouTube ]