UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) – The UN Security Council has condemned abductions carried out by ISIL militants, as well as other extremist groups, including al-Nusra, calling for the release of all hostages.
"The members of the Security Council demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all those abducted by ISIL [ISIL], Al-Nusra Front and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaida, and stressed that those responsible for such heinous acts must be held accountable," the Council said in a Wednesday statement.
"Such crimes once again demonstrate the brutality of ISIL which is responsible for thousands of crimes and abuses against people from all faiths, ethnicities and nationalities and without regard to any basic value of humanity," members of the Security Council stressed.
The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the abduction of Assyrians in Syria on Wednesday, stressing that a successful struggle against growing religious extremism in Syria and the Middle East as a whole requires a universal approach.
The Syrian army has been fighting against several opposition and rebel groups, including the al-Nusra Front (Jabhat al-Nusra) and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Earlier in February, ISIL-affiliated militants executed 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya.
