Activists: ISIL now holding 250 Christians in Syria

Show Caption Hide Caption Identity of Islamic State's 'Jihadi John' revealed The BBC and 'The Washington Post' have identified the Islamic State militant known as 'Jihadi John.' The news comes as the terrorist group has reportedly abducted 220 Assyrian Christians.

The number of Christians abducted by the Islamic State in northeastern Syria has risen to more than 250, activists said Thursday.

The Sweden-based Assyrian Network for Human Rights in Syria said it has documented the number through local organizations and its own observers.

Earlier Thursday, the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the number at more than 220 and said the civilians were kidnapped from 11 villages near the town of Tal Tamr over the past three days by the militants, who control vast swaths of Syria and Iraq.

The abductions, which started Monday, caused thousands of residents to flee and become refugees in nearby cities. The International Orthodox Christian Charities said Thursday that it and other religious charities are providing food, medical attention and emergency aid to more than 1,000 displaced Syrian families seeking shelter in local churches in the town of Hasakah.

More than 600 of the refugees are children, the organization said.

On Wednesday, Osama Edward, founder of the Assyrian Human Rights Network, told CNN the Islamic State, also known as ISIL, planned to release a video message aimed at President Obama and threatening to kill scores of Christian hostages. The video has not yet been released.

Edward said he feared the Assyrian Christians taken hostage would face the same fate as members of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority. Twenty of them were beheaded in a gruesome video released by ISIL earlier this month.

The U.S. State Department issued a statement condemning the abductions and ISIL's "brutal and inhumane treatment" of those who oppose the group. The White House released a similar statement, and the United Nations Security Council "strong condemned" the abductions and demanded immediate release of the hostages.

On Wednesday, influential Sheikh Anwar Assi al-Obeidi told the Al Jazeera news network that 118 Iraqi men and nine boys were abducted by Islamic State militants near Tikrit three days before. Most of them have relatives fighting against the militant group, he said. Al Jazeera reported on Thursday that 51 had been released.

There have been some victories — on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 132 Islamic State members were killed and that control of 70 villages in northeast Syria have been wrested from the group in recent days.