ISIS frees 22 Christians including 14 women in Hasaka

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Islamic State group (ISIS) in Syria has freed 22 Christian Assyrians, among them 14 women, who were held by the militants in Hasaka province for more than five months, an activist group reported.

The Assyrian Network for Human Rights said Tuesday that ”the release was a result of intensive negotiations carried out by Syria's Diocese of the Assyrian Church.”

Osama Edward, the Stockholm-based head of the network, said that ISIS still holds 188 Assyrian Christians in captivity, among them women and children.

“Fourteen people who have been released are descended from the town of Tel Shamiram and eight from the town of Tel Jazeera near the Khabour river,” Edward said.

The network published pictures of a Christian cleric surrounded by four old women with clear signs of anguish on their faces following their release.

In February, ISIS launched separate attacks on 35 Assyrian villages in the Hasaka region, capturing some 300 Assyrians and destroying at least five churches. They included the church in Tel Hurmiz, one of the oldest in Syria, and churches in Tel Shamiran, Qabr Shamiy and Tel Baloua.

Over the past few months ISIS has kidnapped 220 Assyrians, released 10.

Hasaka was previously in the hands of both the Kurdish YPG forces and the Syrian Army, each controlling different parts of the city.

The militants, who control large parts of Syria and Iraq, have especially targeted religious minorities such as the Christians and Yezidi Kurds, devastating both communities with kidnapping, looting, killing and rape.