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AFP / Getty Images
The Syrian media have published photos of what they say are the released hostages
The Syrian army has released 19 women and children held hostage since July by the so-called Islamic State, according to media reports.
They say the captives were saved when the troops launched an operation northeast of the desert town of Palmyra.
The hostages were seized during an IS attack in the southern region of Suweida. More than 200 people were killed.
Suweida is a stronghold of the Druze religious minority and the captives were chosen from this community.
Thursday's reports in the state media have not been independently confirmed.
There were originally more than 30 hostages. Six were released last month, others escaped and at least one was reportedly killed by ISIS militants.
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The Druze are the third religious minority in Syria and are considered heretics by the jihadists of the Islamic State.
Over the past year, IS fighters have lost most of the land they once owned across Syria and neighboring Iraq.
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At the height of the group's power, about 10 million people were living in areas controlled by the IS, but the US military said earlier this year that jihadists had been ousted from 98% of their territory .
In Syria, the group is still present in small pockets in the south and east.
