Isolated Assyrian Christians have been caught for nearly three months between Kurdish militias and Syrian army forces battling with IS for control of Hassaka province, says Syriac Catholic Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo. 1,000 Assyrian families fled their village homes, sending them into exile in Qamishli and Hassaka city. In addition, 242 Assyrian Christians captured during these attacks are still being held incommunicado at an IS stronghold bombed last week by the Syrian army. Church officials have identified 93 women, 51 children and 98 men taken captive. After two months of behind-the-scenes negotiations through local intermediaries, church attempts to gain the release of the hostages were rebuffed by their IS captors. Australia’s Archbishop Mar Meelis said, ‘IS jihadists demanded a US $23 million ransom to release their Khabur captives’. An Assyrian church leader said the amount was beyond the capacity of a tiny church in a poor community.