Islamists set fire to Surp Khach Armenian church in Tel Abyad town in northeast Syria.

According to Beirut-based Aztag daily, the arson was committed by members of al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and Levant group, who took the cross off the church and torched it.

Armenians have been living in Tel Abyad since 1915. The church was built in 1932 and reconstructed in 1996. Before the war, it also hosted a Sunday school.

10,000 Armenians fled to Armenia while 5,000 found shelter in neighboring Lebanon.

More than 115,000 people have been killed in Syria war, including tens of thousands of soldiers, rebels and civilians.