Islamic State Demands $23M Ransom For Christian Hostages

The Islamic State terror group is reportedly demanding $23 million from the Assyrian Church of the East in exchange for 230 Christian hostages kidnapped by the terror group in February.

Bishop Mar Mellis of the Assyrian Church of the East recently told the SBS radio station in Australia that negotiations with the terror group have stalled after the Islamic State demanded $23 million in exchange for the hostages, who were kidnapped from their northeastern village of Hasakah province in Syria on February 25.

"We tried many times to negotiate with the people that captured them and for their release," the bishop told the radio station, as reported by the Assyrian Christian watchdog group A Demand For Action.

"We offered them an amount of money in accordance with the law of jizya [religious tax] but sadly after a week the negotiator between us returned and told us that ISIS wanted $100,000 for each person. They were asking for over $23 million," the bishop added.

The bishop went on to say that the church cannot offer the high ransom of $23 million. Although the church did offer a less expensive payment, it was rejected by Islamic State militants, and the church was told that the 230 Christian hostages will go to court and be tried under Shariah Law for being Christian infidels.

As negotiations to free the Christian hostages stall, Syrian Catholic Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo recently told Fides News Agency that the Islamic State has continued attacking the Assyrian Christian town of Hassaké for the past several days.

"We are going through a terrible moment. The jihadists of the Islamic State attacked Hassaké for two days. They were warded off by the army and Kurdish militias. But we are cut off, like an island surrounded by jihadists from all sides," Hindo told the media outlet.