Finally Freed: 43 Christian Hostages Released By ISIS after Ransom

Carlo Monzon : Feb 24, 2016
Gospel Herald

(Syria)—The terrorist organization ISIS has released over 40 Christian hostages yesterday. According to reports, this is the last batch of the more than 200 hostages kidnapped by the group in Syria a year ago. (Photo: Displaced children, who fled with their families the violence from Islamic State-controlled area of al-Bab, wait as they are stuck in the Syrian village of Akda to cross into Turkey, January 23, 2016/REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail/via Gospel Herald)

The 43 released hostages are currently on their way to the town of Tal Tamr in northeastern Syria. They are part of the 250 Assyrian Christians abducted by the extremist organization in February of 2015 in Syria's Khabour region, USA Today reported.

Over the past few months, ISIS started releasing many of its hostages in batches. Originally, the organization was asking for $100,000 for each hostage but through negotiations, this number was eventually reduced.

The latest release was made possible through the mediation of a priest from the Assyrian Democratic Association. According to numerous sources, the priest and other members of the group negotiated with ISIS leaders to lower the ransom for the hostages.

However, it is not yet clear how much the group paid but according to a report from the Daily Mail, the ransom was below $18 million.

"We paid large amounts of money, millions of dollars, but not $18 million," an anonymous source who's associated with the Assyrian organization said. "We paid less than...

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