Reports: Islamic State kidnaps dozens in Syria, dead found

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian reports say members of the Islamic State group have kidnapped dozens of people in a central province and the bodies of some have been found with their throats slits. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the extremists kidnapped about 40 people Thursday and killed at least 15 people whose bodies were discovered Friday in Hama province. The pro-government Sham FM radio station said the extremists kidnapped people and some “were martyred.” Despite their defeat in Syria in March 2019, the militant group’s sleeper cells still carry deadly attacks both in Syria and Iraq where they once declared a “caliphate.”