ISIS Releases 42 Remaining Assyrian Hostages

The Islamic State group (ISIS) has released the final group of more than 200 Assyrians from Syria who were abducted a year ago in the country’s northeastern region.

Approximately 42 people were freed Monday morning, which according to activists came after mediation by the Assyrian Church.

An Assyrian group stated that ISIS had demanded 18 million dollars in ransom.

Children, women and elderly people were among those taken hostage in February of last year during ISIS attacks on 12 villages along the Khabur River near Tel Tamer.

That attack caused thousands of other Assyrians to flee their homes. All of those hostages have been gradually released in groups over the past 12 months.

‘Payment of Ransom’

The Assyrian Human Rights Network in Sweden and the Syrian Human Rights Observatory in Britain said that 42 captives, most of them women and children, were released Monday. The Federation of Assyrians in Sweden put the number of those freed at 43 people.

Yona Talia from the Democratic Organization of Assyrians told the Associated Press that ISIS had demanded 18 million dollars in ransom, but this amount was reduced during negotiations.

At the same time, an unnamed Syrian Christian figure told the news agency: “We paid large amounts including several million dollars but not 18 million dollars. We paid less than half of that.”

He added that the fate of five Assyrians who disappeared last year remains unknown.

ISIS has repeatedly targeted religious minorities and told Christians living in areas under this group’s control that they must either convert to Islam, pay a poll tax, or face execution.

An estimated 40,000 Assyrians are believed to live in Syria. The total number of Christians in Syria was estimated at 1.2 million before the start of the country’s civil war.

Assyrians, who are among the world’s oldest Christians, have faced increasing pressure since ISIS-controlled areas of Syria were occupied.