The Islamic State released 22 Christian Assyrians in Syria, according to an announcement made on Tuesday. Afram Yakoub of the Assyrian Federation of Sweden verified this claim stating that these 22 freed hostages were all elderly. "We believe they released them because of health issues and because they are old," Yakoub said, according to the The New York Times.
The hostages went to al-Hassakah, the provincial capital of Syria, after being freed. Church and other support organizations assisted the 22 elderly Christians, including 14 women. These captives belonged to hundreds of Assyrians abducted this year in a northeastern Syrian village. They were from Khabur, Tal Shamiram and Tal Jazira. Over 200 people have been taken by the Islamic State since February after attacking 10 villages in Syria within three days, International Business Times reported.
The Assyrian Observatory for Human Rights announced the release was "the result of the tireless efforts and negotiations by the Assyrian Church of the East in the city of Hasakeh."
Assyrian Network for Human Rights director, Osama Edward, said that they are still persistent in their effort to release the remaining 187 hostages from the clutches of IS. "There is a positive atmosphere around the negotiation," Edward said, according to Agency France Presse.
Over 250 Syrian Orthodox and Catholic families were abducted just last week by the IS after they had conquered the Syrian town of Qaryatain, which has groups devoted to President Bashar al-Assad. At least 300 families were able to flee from the area, confirmed by A Demand for Action (ADFA), a group offering support for Christian families in Syria.
Thirty thousand Assyrians comprise the country's 1.2 million Christians before the disputes began. Hundreds of Christian captives have been taken from different areas all over Syria and Iraq. Over 240,000 lives have been claimed in Syria alone when the dissension began in March 2011.
