IS militants claim to have executed hundreds of abductees: watchdog

DAMASCUS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of people abducted by the ISlamic State (IS) extremISt group were reported to have been executed following the announced defeat of the terror-designated group in eastern Syria, a war monitor reported Sunday.

The claims were made by IS militants who fell in the hands of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The abductees were taken captive by the IS from different areas controlled by the KurdISh-led groups in northeastern Syria, the London-based watchdog said.

A day earlier, the SDF announced the defeat of the IS in Syria and the end of the group's self-declared caliphate.

Meanwhile, the Observatory said the IS militants are still present in the desert region in eastern Syria. Enditem