Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia, on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the deadly shooting and bomb attack by a teenager in Crimea a "result of globalization" and says that adults are failing to offer young people an alternative to an outburst of violence. An 18-year-old student went on a rampage at his vocational school in the city of Kerch on Wednesday, killing about 20 people and injuring more than 50. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin says IS seized 700 hostages in Syria; executing some

By Associated Press AP

PUBLISHED 2:11 PM ET May. 09, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says Islamic State militants in Syria have recently seized some 700 people as hostages and are carrying out executions.

At an international policy forum in Sochi on Thursday, Putin said "they have been recently expanding their area and took about 130 families hostage, which accounts for about 700 people."

Putin said the militants have put forth demands, which he did not specify, and have warned that they would kill 10 people a day if the demands are not met.

"They killed 10 people the day before yesterday," he said. "They are now carrying out their threats."

State news agency Tass Wednesday cited an unnamed "diplomatic-military source" as saying the hostages were seized in a raid on a refugee camp and were demanding Syria free IS members.