ICC Note: Fifty Christians previously held by ISIS militants in a central Syrian town have been released according to new reports. The reason for this release is not yet known, previously a smaller group was released after paying a jizya or religious minority tax to their Islamic “rulers.”

10/14/2015 Syria (AINA) – SIS has released 50 of the 250 Assyrians who were captured in Qaryatain, Syria on August 7 (AINA 2015-08-07). ISIS released 15 Assyrians from this same group of hostages on September 4 after they paid the jizya (Muslim poll tax) (AINA 2015-09-04).

185 Assyrians of Qaryatain remain prisoners of ISIS.

The 50 Assyrians were released on September 12 and arrived safely to the Assyrian villages of Zaidan and Fairozeh.

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