Updated November 04, 2014 21:16:57
Islamic State (IS) militants have released 93 Syrian Kurds captured in February as they made their way from northern Syria to neighbouring Iraq, according to a human rights group monitoring the conflict.
IS seized about 100 people and accused them of being members of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, which has opposed the militants, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
It was not immediately clear why they were released.
The Al Qaeda offshoot released all but six of the Kurds in Syria on Monday, the Observatory said.
The remaining captives were accused of theft and the IS group said it would cut off their right hand as a punishment, according to the Observatory, which gathers its information from a network of sources.
The Kurds were taken captive as they crossed from areas around the Syrian town of Kobane on the Turkish border on a road towards Iraqi Kurdistan.
Tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds took the route east towards Iraq earlier this year to flee the advance of IS in Syria.
In recent weeks, IS has intensified its assault on Kobane and surrounding areas.
Around 53 of the Kurds released on Monday made their way into Turkey and the location of the 40 others is unknown, the Observatory said.
The militants were still holding around 70 more Kurds captive, it added.
It comes after reports that IS militants released 25 Kurdish schoolchildren who were kidnapped in northern Syria in May.
ReutersTopics:unrest-conflict-and-war, syrian-arab-republic, turkey
First posted November 04, 2014 21:15:53
Entities 0 Name: Syria Count: 4 1 Name: Iraq Count: 2 2 Name: Turkey Count: 1 3 Name: Al Qaeda Count: 1 4 Name: Kobane Count: 1 5 Name: Iraqi Kurdistan Count: 1 6 Name: Reuters Count: 1 7 Name: Kurdish Democratic Union Party Count: 1 8 Name: Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Count: 1 9 Name: First Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1t7DdgA Title: Peshmerga, Syrian rebels battle Islamic State in besieged Kobani Description: Credit: Reuters/Yannis Behrakis 1 of 10. An Islamic State flag is seen atop a building in eastern Kobani, as seen from the Turkish border crossing of Mursitpinar as Kurdish Peshmerga forces fight against Islamic state fighters, November 1, 2014.
