Tag: Assyrians

3 bombs kill 16 in Syrian border town

January 4, 2016 Syria Assyrians, Islamic State, Kurds, Qamishli, Syria

Bombers attacked three Christian-owned restaurants in the Syrian town of Qamishli on 30 Dec., killing at least 16 and injuring dozens, according to various independent news reports. The self-proclaimed “Islamic State” claimed responsibility, , citing the Amaq news service, which supports IS. The Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, Moran Mor . . . Read More

Latest Assyrian hostages’ release by ISIS

January 4, 2016 Syria Assyrians, Children, Hasakah, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Syria, Women

ISIS has released 25 of the Assyrian hostages it captured during the militant group’s February 2015 in Hassaka Province, northern Syria. The hostages were released in good health on Christmas day. Two of the hostages were men and the rest women and children. All the children belonged to six of . . . Read More

Syria: 11 churches attacked since February

December 15, 2015 Syria Assyrians, Churches, Civil War, Islamic State, Khabur, Syria

The Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) has released a list of the names of Syrian churches and monasteries destroyed by ISIS and other jihadi groups since February. “On February 23, ISIS attacked the 35 Assyrian villages on the Khabur River in [Al-Hasakah], Syria, capturing 253 Assyrians. In the subsequent months . . . Read More

25 Assyrian captives freed

December 10, 2015 Syria Assyrians, Hasakah, Islamic State, Khabur, Kidnapping, Syria

Twenty-five Syrian Christians abducted by the self-proclaimed Islamic State in February have been released, . The freed captives, all of them men and which included two boys ages 7 and 9, were among 253 Assyrians captured during an IS attack on dozens of villages near the Khabur river in the Hasaka province, . . . Read More

10 Assyrians released after ‘negotiations’

November 25, 2015 Syria Assyrians, Hasakah, Homs, Islamic State, Khabur, Qaryatain, Syria

The Islamic State has released 10 more Assyrians, from over 200 indigenous Christians it had snatched from their communities in north eastern Syria in February. The civilians, five men and five women, were released Tuesday evening, the Assyrian Human Rights Network (AHRN) reported. The released hostages, from Tel Shamiram, Tel Jazeera, . . . Read More

Renovated church re-opens 30 miles from IS

November 23, 2015 Turkey Assyrians, Churches, Islamic State, Mardin, Protestants, Religious freedom, Turkey

The re-opening of an abandoned church in Mardin, SE Turkey, just 30 miles from Islamic State territory, is a symbol of “universal religious freedom”, worshippers were told at the renovated building’s dedication service on 7 November. Local politicians and leaders of all denominations were at the reopening ceremony “as a . . . Read More

Forces rally to defend Christian Syrian town from IS

November 16, 2015 Syria Assyrians, Homs, Islamic State, Qaryatain, Sadad, Syria

Efforts are being rallied to save one of the last remaining centres of indigenous Christian presence in the Levant against a renewed jihadi attack. Militants of the theologically-based “Islamic State” have come within 3 kilometres of the Syriac Orthodox town of Sadad in western Syria, the Assyrian International News Agency . . . Read More

37 Assyrian Christians released in Syria

November 9, 2015 Syria Assyrians, Hasakah, Islamic State, Jacques Mourad, Khabur, Qaryatain, Syria

The self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) has released another 37 Assyrian Christians kidnapped nine months ago in Syria, Assyrian sources said. The group, including men and women in their sixties and seventies, were among the 253 Christians snatched in IS attacks on Assyrian villages in northeastern Syria’s Hassaka province. Three thousand . . . Read More

IS ‘releases’ 50 Assyrian Christians

October 15, 2015 Syria Assyrians, Homs, Islamic State, Jizya, Qaryatain, Syria

The self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) has released 50 Assyrians among a large group of Christians snatched 10 weeks ago near the Syrian city of Homs, the Assyrian Monitor for Human Rights (AMHR) reported. The freed indigenous Christians arrived back on October 12 at their Syriac towns of Zaidan and Fairozeh, . . . Read More

IS releases first execution video of Syrian Christians

October 9, 2015 Syria Assyrians, Hasakah, Hezbollah, Islamic State, Jacques Mourad, Khabur, Syria

A video released by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) on 7 Oct. has showed the jihadists killing three Assyrian Christian hostages with shots to the back of their heads. According to the Assyrian Monitor for Human Rights, it is the first IS video showing Christians in Syria being executed. Shown . . . Read More

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