Syria: hundreds disappear after militants take strategic town
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It is claimed hundreds of people have disappeared from a strategically-located town in central Syria after it was seized by militants.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 230 people, including dozens of Christians, have been abducted from Qaryatain, south-east of Homs.
There has been no news of their fate.
#ISIS have abducted 230 civilians, including 60 Christians, after capturing Syrian Qaryatain http://t.co/6BLnGaiSOV
— Julie Lenarz (@MsIntervention) 7 Août 2015Qaryatain was captured overnight between Wednesday and Thursday after intense fighting between the group calling itself IS and the Syrian Army.
The town is a stopping point on a road linking the IS-held city of Palmyra in the east with the Qalamoun mountain range along the border with Lebanon in the west.