[caption id="attachment_149589" align="alignright" width="141"] A church in Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah[/caption]
The ISIL Takfiri group has threatened to demolish churches in Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah, if they refuse to remove crosses.
The Assyrian Democratic Organization said in a statement that the ISIL militants entered the Assyrian Tal Hermez village last Friday and ordered the removal of all crosses from churches.
The statement also condemned such ISIL moves against the Christian population.
The Assyrian organization added that if the ISIL continues its practices of intimidation, people will be forced to emigrate.
Syria has been grappling with a deadly crisis since March 2011. The violence fueled by Takfiri groups has reportedly claimed the lives of over 200,000 people so far. New figures show that over 76,000 people, including thousands of children, lost their lives in Syria last year alone.
The Takfiri militants have demolished several holy shrines and mosques belonging to Shia and Sunni Muslims as well as Christian sites in the militancy-riddled regions of Iraq and Syria.
The Takfiris, along with members from several Western countries, control swathes of land in Syria and Iraq, and have been carrying out horrific acts of violence such as public decapitations and crucifixions against all communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.