With panic and hope, Syria's Sweida waiting for the return of IS-kidnapped families.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says members of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group are holding 27 people captive in Syria’s Southwestern Province of Sweida, condemning the hostage-taking as a “war crime.”

According to Press TV, the New York-based international non-governmental organization said on Saturday that the abductees mostly consist of women and children, who were kidnapped on July 25 when Daesh launched a massive assault on the Druze community in the province and killed more than 250 people.

HRW stressed that the Takfiris are holding the civilians hostage in order to use them as bargaining chips in negotiations with the Damascus government and Russia.

“Civilian lives should not be used as bargaining chips,” said Lama Fakih, Deputy Middle East Director at HRW.

There are reports that at least two people have died ever since Daesh extremists took more than 30 people hostage in the July offensive.

A 19-year-old male student was beheaded, and a 65-year-old woman died earlier this month.

Moreover, two women managed to escape captivity.

The families of the kidnapped people called on the international community and humanitarian organizations to help in securing the release of their families from the grip of IS.

Please don't forget that cold months are approaching and their chances of survival diminish with every day in captivity. Let's wake the media and the most powerful women and men in the world not to allow such atrocities to happen again.