The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that ISIS militants seized members of the Assyrian community, a Christian minority sect, during a series of dawn raids centering on the town of Tal Tamr and neighboring villages.

The abductions occurred as Kurdish Peshmerga forces, backed by U.S. airstrikes, have waged a campaign against ISIS strongholds in northern Syria, forcing ISIS militants back by at least 3 miles, according to Peshmerga commanders and activists on the ground.