The Daesh jihadist group has released 25 Assyrian Christians kidnapped in February in return for ransom, a representative of the Assyrian group in northern Syria said.

Daesh militants captured 36 Christian villages along the Khabur River in the province of Al Hasakah in February. The extremist group outlawed in Russia destroyed ancient churches, killed scores of civilians and kidnapped over 300 Assyrians in the offensive.

“We were able to negotiate through mediators the release of another 25 Assyrians from captivity. In return, we gave the ransom to terrorists. There are still some 80 Assyrians in captivity,” the source told RIA Novosti on Saturday.

Up to 190 of those kidnapped, most of them elderly, have since been set free in exchange for ransom payments.

On December 10, mediators have secured the release of 25 Assyrian Christians, who were taken to the town of Tall Tamr immediately following their release.

The Syrian army, backed by the Assyrian militia known as the Khabur defenders, has reclaimed and restored state control of the ransacked and abandoned Christian settlements in Al Hasakah.