Islamic State kills three Assyrian Christian captives: activists

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State militants have killed three Assyrian Christian captives who were among nearly 200 Christians abducted earlier this year in northeastern Syria, two human rights monitoring groups said on Thursday. The three men were killed late last month but the news emerged this week when a video showing their deaths was released, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The Assyrian Human Rights Network said the three men were among 187 Assyrians being held by Islamic State. Both organizations said they were killed two weeks ago on Eid al-Adha, an Islamic holiday. Islamic State abducted the Assyrians in February during battles with the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in northeastern Syria. (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Janet Lawrence)