Tag: Kidnapping

Assyrian Christians flee jihadists to southeast Turkey

March 27, 2015 Syria Armenians, Assyrians, Bashar al-Assad, Genocide, Iraq, Islamic State, Khabur, Kidnapping, Lebanon, Qamishli, Syriacs, Turkey

A harsh Islamic State offensive begun in late February against Syria’s dwindling Assyrian Christian population is accelerating a steady trickle of Christian refugees trying desperately to reach safety in Turkey, northern Iraq and Lebanon. But their future is far from guaranteed as refugees in Muslim-majority Turkey, where according to Turkish . . . Read More

The man who talks to Boko Haram

March 26, 2015 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, Gwoza, Kidnapping, Maiduguri, Nigeria, Pentecostals, Stephen Davis, Trauma

One year after the kidnapping of 232 Nigerian girls, Australian Stephen Davis still says his contacts indicate complicity among Nigerian politicians. A year ago April 14, Boko Haram kidnapped 275 girls from the government secondary school in the Christian-dominated town of Chibok, Borno State. Students reported to the Chibok Government Secondary . . . Read More

Reports of ‘blanket’ release of Assyrians dashed

March 12, 2015 Syria Assyrians, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Syria

Most Assyrian Christian families taken hostage in northeast Syria more than two weeks ago remain in Islamic State hands, despite initial reports indicating all, or nearly all, had been released. Initial news that IS forces had released all the Christian detainees after Friday prayers March 6 was reported to the . . . Read More

Missionary, kidnapped in Nigeria, released

March 9, 2015 Nigeria Berom, Boko Haram, Enugu, Kidnapping, Kogi, Missionaries, Nigeria

UPDATE Rev. Phyllis Sortor was released March 6, after 12 days as a hostage, according to a statement released by the Free Methodist Church – USA. “It appears she was kidnapped by a criminal gang, and there is no evidence this event is associated with terrorism or religion,” according to the . . . Read More

23 Assyrian Christians released in Syria

March 6, 2015 Syria Assyrians, Hasakah, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Kobani, Qamishli, Syria, Syriacs

Assyrians from Tel Goran village, abducted by Islamic State kidnappers in late February, were released and returned safely in Hassaka on March 2.Photo provided by CAPNI Ten days after the self-proclaimed Islamic State’s harsh offensive emptied out a cluster of Assyrian Christian villages in northeast Syria, the extremists’ intentions . . . Read More

Indian priest kidnapped in Afghanistan released after eight months

February 23, 2015 Afghanistan Afghanistan, Bamiyan, Herat, Kabul, Kidnapping, Taliban

Indian Jesuit priest Alexis Prem Kumar who was kidnapped in June 2014 in southern Afghanistan was released and reached New Delhi on February 22 with the intervention of the Indian government. “Delighted at securing the release of Indian Jesuit priest Father Alexis Prem Kumar from captivity in Afghanistan,” tweeted Indian . . . Read More

Abduction of another Egyptian Copt in Libya

January 30, 2015 Libya Islamic State, Kidnapping, Libya, Sirte, Tripoli

Unidentified gunmen abducted an Egyptian working in a restaurant in the Libyan city of Sirte on Jan. 29. According to Middle East news agency Copts Today the colleagues of 26-year-old Christian Samir Sabri Masood, from Sidi Salem Kafr El Sheikh, Egypt, reported the kidnapping to the police after he was . . . Read More

The West pays too little attention to Boko Haram

January 12, 2015 Nigeria Boko Haram, Chibok girls, EYN, Jos, Kidnapping, Maiduguri, Nigeria, Samuel Dali

The West pays too little attention to the threat of Boko Haram, according to the Catholic Archbishop of Jos, and it needs to show the kind of resolve the international community has shown over the attacks in Paris. Ignatius Kaigama was speaking to the BBC after the most recent Boko . . . Read More

Mexican Priest’s body found on Christmas Day

December 30, 2014 Mexico Christmas, Guerrero, Kidnapping, Mexico, Organised crime

CNN reports that the body of Rev. Gregorio Lopez was found shot dead on Christmas Day after being kidnapped in Mexico’s south-western drug cartel state Guerrero. The motive for the killing remains unclear, but he is the third priest to be killed in the state this year. “A friend of . . . Read More

Another mass kidnapping and killing in Nigeria

December 19, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, Children, Kidnapping, Nigeria, Women

Boko Haram is suspected to have killed at least 30 people and kidnapped as many as 200 women and children in an attack on a Nigerian village. A witness told the BBC “he helped bury 33 bodies,” and “about 200 women and children had been kidnapped from Gumsuri village in . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye