ISIS plans to release a video today, threatening to murder 150 Christians taken hostage in Syria, if a U.S.-led coalition of military forces does not halt airstrikes.
Osama Edward, of the Assyrian Human Rights Network, told CNN that the extremists are believed to have 150 hostages, including women, children and the elderly.
ISIS militants abducted at least 70 Assyrian Christians after overrunning a string of villages in northeastern Syria. The extremist fighters swept through the villages along the banks of Khabur River near the town of Tal Tamr in Hassakeh province around dawn on Monday. The area is predominantly inhabited by Assyrians, an indigenous Christian people who trace their roots back to the ancient Mesopotamians.
In the assault, the militants took between 70 and 100 Assyrians captive, said Nuri Kino, the head of the activist group A Demand For Action, which focuses on religious minorities in the Middle East. He said some 3,000 people managed to flee the onslaught and have sought refuge in the cities of Hassakeh and Qamishli.
But Edward said ISIS is holding many more Assyrian Christians hostage than previously thought and he feared they face the same fate as the more than 20 members of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority slaughtered by ISIS in Libya last month.
“Maybe they are facing the same destiny. That’s why we call on all over the world, like the U.S, Europe, coalition forces — protect Assyrians, save Assyrians in Syria,” he told CNN.
“They are facing death, people are unarmed, they are peaceful. And they need help, they are just left alone — no one’s protecting them.”
The video message will be directed to President Barack Obama and other members of the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS.
Edward said the latest information from the ground indicated the hostages had been moved to an ISIS-controlled location.
The activist organization Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently also said on Twitter that ISIS has moved a number of Assyrian captives to Raqqa, an ISIS stronghold.
Edward said some 35 Assyrian villages and towns had now been taken over by ISIS, forcing thousands of families to flee.
Some 600 families have taken refuge in St. Mary’s Cathedral in al-Hasakah, Syria, he said Tuesday.
The Assyrians lack food, water, blankets and other necessities after years of being in the middle of a civil war.
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