ISIS 'planning to murder 150 Christian hostages if the US does not stop its air strikes' 

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Islamic State militants are planning to murder 150 Christian hostages they kidnapped after sweeping through villages in Syria if the U.S. does not stop air strikes, it has been reported.

The abductions of the Christians took place yesterday after ISIS seized two Assyrian communities from Kurdish forces in the northeast province of Hassakeh.

The dawn raids are said to have spread 'panic' in the villages, inhabited by the ancient Christian minority along the banks of the Khabur River near the town of Tel Hmar with most coming from the village of Tal Shamiram.

Coptic Christians being held by ISIS fighters in Libya. Now the terror group is reportedly planning to threaten to kill another 150 Christian hostages that were seized in Syria 

Most of the captives are said to have came from the village of Tal Shamiram, located 50 miles miles southwest of the Hassakeh provincial capital of Qamishli, with others taken from Tal Hermuz

It is thought that the militants are holding the seized women and children in houses in the ISIS-held town of al-Shadadi and using them as human shields from air strikes.

Now CNN has reported that the terror group are now planning to release a video as early as today, where they will threaten to kill the hostages if air strikes don't stop.

Osama Edward, founder of the Assyrian Human Rights Network told the station that the video will be directed to US President Barack Obama and other members of the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS.

The video is expected to say that the hostages will be killed unless the strikes stop. 

Meanwhile, it has also been reported that at least 500 families escaped the attack and fled to a nearby church in Hasakah city, where they found refuge.

Mr Edward told the IBTimesUK: 'We're involved, many of them are friends and relatives. I'm trying not to get involved and be as objctive and accurate as possible without surrender to personal feelings.'

The kidnappings come as ISIS released a video showing militants beheading 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya earlier this month.

The United States has condemned the attack on the Assyrian Christians and demanded their immediate release.

It is thought that ISIS militants, pictured,  are holding the seized women and children in houses in the ISIS-held town of al-Shadadi and using them as human shields from air strikes

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: 'ISIS latest targeting of a religious minority is only further testament to its brutal and inhumane treatment of all those who disagree with its divisive goals and toxic beliefs.

'ISIS continues to exact its evil upon innocents of all faiths, and the majority of its victims have been Muslims.

'To bring an end to these daily horrors, we remain committed to leading the international coalition to degrade and defeat ISIS and to working towards a negotiated political solution that stops the bloodshed and secures a future of freedom, justice, and dignity for all Syrians.' 

After ISIS attacked the two villages as well as the nearby town of Tal Tamr, which remains under Kurdish control, the jihadists set fire to a church there and then installed fighters in the remains of the building, an activist network reported.

After ISIS attacked the two villages as well as the nearby town of Tal Tamr, which remains under Kurdish control, the jihadists set fire to a church there (file picture) 

The US-led coalition fighting ISIS, which has backed Kurdish forces battling the group, then bombed the building on Monday, destroying it and killing IS militants inside, said the Syrian Revolution General Commission.

Control of Hassakeh province is largely divided between Kurdish forces, who in some places patrol with regime troops, and ISIS fighters.

Since recapturing the strategic border town of Kobane in Aleppo from IS fighters on January 26, Kurdish forces have taken dozens of nearby villages.

They have also seized 19 villages from IS in Raqa, where the jihadist group has its de facto capital, and another 30 villages and hamlets in Hassakeh.

The Kurdish advances have been aided by the US-led air strikes, including a series in Hassakeh on Monday that killed at least 14 IS fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.