ISIS releases 19 Assyrian Christian hostages

Nineteen Assyrian Christians out of an estimated 220 kidnapped by ISIS in north-eastern Syria have been released, human rights monitoring groups have reported.

Assyrian Human Rights Network (AHRN) said that the Assyrians were transported by mini-bus on Sunday from the ISIS controlled town of Shaddadeh to the Church of Our Lady, in the city of Al-Hasakah, where they were met by Bishop St Ephrem Otnaúal, a pastor of the Church of the East in Syria.

According to AHRN, the hostages were freed by ISIS after a Sharia court ordered each family to pay a sum of money.

Another monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that the release of the 19 hostages, all from the village of Tal Ghoran, had been confirmed by an Assyrian commander.

The kidnappings of more than 200 Assyrian Christians took place on February 23, when ISIS terrorists attacked 12 villages.

According to the BBC, Assyrian Christian officials have said that of the 19 people released 16 are men and three are women.

Meanwhile, the Chaldean Archbishop of Aleppo has denied recent reports that ISIS have killed at least 15 of the Assyrian hostages.

“Reports that Islamic State militias killed at least 15 Assyrian Christian Syrians are not true,” Mgr Antoine Audo told AsiaNews.it.

He added: “I contacted the vicar of the Chaldeans in Al-Hasakah, Fr Nidala. He told me that reports about Christians being killed is not true.”

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