The news was announced by from Aid to the Church in Need. A woman has been decapitated and two men were shot dead. There is no other information regarding the other victims
It was only this morning, Thursaday February 26, that Pope Francis sent out his prayers for them during the Lenten Spiritual Exercises with the Roman Curia in the Casa del Divin Maestro retreat centre, in Ariccia (Rome). Hours later, news has reached that ISIS has killed the first Christians who are being held hostage in the governorate of Hassake in Syri, on the northeastern border with Iraq. The Archimandrite Emanuel Youkhana, who reported the abduction last Monday, informed Aid to the Church in Need (a Pontifical Foundation of the Catholic Church, supporting the Catholic faithful and other Christians where they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need) that 15 of the hostages have been killed. “Many of them were fighting to defend and protect the villages and families,” Youkhana says.
In the village of Tel Hormizd one woman has been beheaded and two men were shot. There is currently no information about who the other executed captives are.
Archimandrite Youkhana informs that at least 350 people have been captured by IS. In addition to the fighters mentioned above 81 people were seized from Tel Jazira, 21 from Tel Gouran, five from Tel Feytha and three from Qabir Shamiya. All of the above are being held in the Arab Sunni village of Um Al-Masamier.
Also, 51 families from the village of Tel Shamiram have been taken – Archimandrite Youkhana adds: “The average is five persons per family”.He added that there was no news about where the families were being held: “Most probably they have been captured and transported to Mount Abdul Aziz, a nearby region controlled by IS.”
Another source says there was an unconfirmed report that the mosque in the Arab Sunni village of Bab Alfaraj had called on people to attend “a mass killing of infidels” at Mount Abdul Aziz on 27 Februar
There are no families left in the 35 Assyrian Christian villages, all remaining villagers have now fled to Hassake or Qamishli. "The displaced registered families till yesterday evening are 800 families in Hassake and 175 in Qamishli,” Archimandrite Youkhana says.
