19 women and children rescued from captivity of Islamic State in Syria

The Syrian army has rescued a group of 19 women and children who were abducted by Islamic State in the Syrian city of Sweida in July, Syrian state television reported on Thursday.

The group was freed in an area northeast of the desert city of Palmyra, in what state television described as "a heroic and precise operation" in which the army clashed with Islamic State militants.