At least 100 Christians seized in Syria after Islamic State offensive
February 24, 2015
Militants of the Islamic State have abducted at least 100 Christians from Syrian villages.
The Reuters news service reported that Kurdish forces, assisted by US airstrikes, are battling with ISIS for control of northeastern Syria. As Kurdish forces massed on one front, the Islamic State struck on another front, capturing several Christian Assyrian villages.
Archimandrite Emanuel Youkhana, who heads a Christian aid program (CIPNA) in Dohuk, Iraq, told the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that he spoke by telephone to a prelate in Hassake city, where around 400 families have fled following the February 23 assault of ISIS fighters.
Father Youkhana reported that at least 600 families had fled to Hassake, straining the resources of that city. He said that at least 100 residents of the cities seized by the Islamic State were already in captivity, while others were trapped, and two more villages were in danger of falling to the Islamic militants.
The Islamic State has already separated the men from the women and children among the captives, Father Youkhana said. “Knowing the brutal barbaric record of IS with the captured, the destiny of those families is a major concern to us.”
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