Forty kidnapped Assyrian believers have been released by IS. They were among the 230 taken a year ago. Millions of dollars were paid in ransom. The captives were released and sent to the town of Tal Tamr, after mediation by a top Assyrian priest in northern Syria. IS had demanded a ransom of £12.77 million for the group: this figure was later lowered following negotiations, but the final amount is not known. A Syrian Christian said the worldwide Assyrian community had launched a campaign for the captives' release shortly after they were abducted. A bank account was opened in the Iraqi city of Irbil and donations began to flow in from around the world. ‘We paid millions of dollars for their release, but it was less than half the amount asked for,’ said the spokesman.