ISIS member addresses the Assyrian hostages from Tel Goran at an unknown location (photo: social media).
ishtartv.com-
AINA
2015-03-05
02:10 GMT
On
February 24 ISIS attacked 35 Assyrian villages on the Khabur river, in the
Hasaka province in Syria, capturing between 262 and 373 Assyrians. The majority
of the Assyrians were captured from Tel Shamiran, Tel Hurmiz, Tel Goran and Tel
Jazira. ISIS captured 21 Assyrians from Tel Goran. On March 1 it released 19 of
them, and on March 3 it released the remaining two, including a 6 year-old girl
named Mariana Mirza.
AINA
spoke by telephone today with one of the Assyrians who was captured in Tel
Goran and subsequently released. His name is Robert (name changed). He gave a
full account of their ordeal, from the moment they were captured to the moment
they arrived in Hasaka after being released.
AINA:
Tell us how the attack started and how you were captured.
Robert:
There usually are guards in the village. On that day the guards left for Hasaka
at 4 A.M. ISIS entered the village at 5 A.M. and knocked on our doors and awoke
us. They rounded us up, everyone in the village, and placed us in a small room.
On the other [north] side of the river there were Kurdish and Assyrian
fighters, and we could hear the exchange of fire between them and ISIS.
AINA:
How close is your house to the river?
Robert:
Our house is right on the river. We stayed in that room for about three hours
until the fighting stopped. In the lull the bell at St. Zaya church in our
village rang three times. This made the ISIS guys angry and agitated. The asked
us if there was anyone else in the village. We said all of us are here and the
village is empty. They asked how can the bell be ringing. We said we don't
know.
ISIS
then brought a car and drove us to Abdul Aziz Mountain.
AINA:
How many of you were there?
Robert:
21. 17 men and 4 women.
AINA:
What happened when you arrived at Abdul Aziz Mountain?
Robert:
They placed us in two small rooms. We spent the night there.
AINA:
What did they say to you?
Robert:
They asked us to convert to Islam.
AINA:
That was the first thing they said?
Robert:
Yes, that was their idea that we should convert to Islam.
AINA:
Who was speaking to you?
Robert:
Many bearded people spoke to us, and everyone one asked us to convert to Islam.
AINA:
How many?
Robert:
Very many. Everyone spoke to us, whoever saw us.
AINA:
What happened next?
Robert:
We spent the night there. In the morning they brought cars and drove us for
about 4 hours into the mountains.
AINA:
Which mountains?
Robert:
Toward Tur Abdin [north; Tur Abdin is an Assyrian city in Turkey]. They placed
us in a couple of homes.
AINA:
How long did you stay there?
Robert:
For 5 days, until we were released.
AINA:
When you arrived there what did ISIS say and do?
Robert:
They kept pressuring us to convert to Islam, it was their constant focus. But
we were not mistreated.
AINA:
When ISIS asked you to convert to Islam, what was your answer?
Robert:
We said we would not convert. They said you must then pay the jizya [a Christian
poll tax] or leave the country. That was the option given to us. We said we
would pay the jizya but we would not convert.
AINA:
How much was the jizya?
Robert:
They said this time they would not collect the jizya because we had not fought
against them. They said that they would release us on condition that we not
return to our village. They said if we returned and they captured us again they
would kill us without any other option, they would behead the men and enslave
the women.
AINA:
Did anything else happened while you were there?
Robert:
No. We were provided with all necessities -- food, water, bathing facilities.
They brought us everything.
AINA:
What did they say on the day of your release?
Robert:
They again said that we must not stay in the country, if they captured us again
they would kill us.
AINA:
Did you return straight to Hasaka?
Robert:
Yes. They hired a car which brought us back to Hasaka, it was a long car. We
drove straight to Hasaka.
AINA:
Who was driving the car? An ISIS member?
Robert:
No, it was hired.
ANA:
How did you feel when you arrived at Hasaka?
Robert:
Frankly, we did not believe that we would come out alive, we had been
frightened badly. When we arrived at Hasaka we were very happy when we saw the
church of St. Eprhem full and all the people there.
AINA:
During your captivity, what were you and the others thinking?
Robert:
We were in constant fear, we did not believe they would release us. It was by
grace of St. Zaya and God that we were saved.
AINA:
Now that you are safely in Hasaka, what are you going to do?
Robert:
We cannot return to our village. We will very soon go to Lebanon.
AINA:
All 21 of you?
Robert:
Not just us, all the Assyrians, Khabur is empty now. Everyone is making plans
to leave.
AINA:
What is your family going to do?
Robert:
We are going to Lebanon. We cannot go back to Tel Goran, as ISIS is occupying
the village, stealing and pillaging our homes.
AINA:
Only in Tel Goran or in other villages as well?
Robert:
All the villages: Tel Goran, Tel Shamiran, Tel Tawal, Tel Hurmiz and all the
others.
AINA:
ISIS is on the south bank of the river, and the Kurdish and Assyrian fighters
on the north?
Robert:
Yes. There are no Assyrian civilians left in the entire area.
ISIS Assyrian hostages from Tel Goran at an unknown location, prior to their release (photo: social media).
ISIS Assyrian hostages from Tel Goran after their release, boarding the bus bound for Hasaka (photo: social media).
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