BEIRUT (AP) — A U.S.-backed Syrian force and a war monitor say members of the Islamic State group have stormed a settlement for displaced people in the country's east and kidnapped scores of civilians.
The Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement that fighting Friday night in the Hajin camp for displaced persons left 20 IS gunmen and "several" SDF fighters dead. It added that IS gunmen took civilians by force to areas in the last pocket they control.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that monitors Syria's war said as many as 130 families were kidnapped by the extremists, who warned they might kill them.
The area in Syria's Deir el-Zour province has been witnessing days of intense clashes between IS and SDF fighters amid bad weather and low visibility.
