Members of ISIS have recently released an Assyrian Christian girl, the last remaining hostage of a group that was abducted in northern Syria during February 2015. Miriam David Talya was originally supposed to be released on February 22nd of this year, along with 42 other hostages. (VOMC's previously posted report on the release of these hostages can be reviewed here.)
However, the militants ended up removing Miriam from the list of those freed, without notifying the leaders of the Assyrian Church of the East with whom they had been negotiating. Further negotiations then began which thankfully have resulted in her release on Easter Sunday. She arrived safely in her town of Tel Tamar later that day.
Miriam was among a large group (consisting of more than 200 Assyrians) that was abducted from villages along the Khabur River on February 23rd, 2015. At the time, ISIS militants undertook raids on a number of Assyrian villages near Tel Hmar, burning churches and forcing hundreds of families to flee.