More than two dozen Christians kidnapped by Islamic State, including two children, have been freed, according to a report by Christian Today.
A Demand for Action, a campaign group for minorities in the Middle East, confirmed that the Assyrian Church of the East in Syria secured the release of 25 Assyrians who have been held hostage since February.
Photos of the group being transported on a bus with a clergyman have been posted online. Included in the group are two young boys. They're thought to be the first children to be released by ISIS.
The hostages were among more than 200 people abducted from villages along the Khabour River in northern Syria.
"When IS stormed in February, we were left to wonder if this is it for Christianity and for Assyrians in the Middle East," Spokeswoman for ADFA, Diana Yaqco, told Christian Today. "After Mosul, we were sure that was it...but then Khabour happened. It's for these reasons our team in DC has been working very hard to ensure the Obama administration recognizes this ethnic and religious cleansing of my people for what it is, a genocide."
The freed hostages have already arrived safely in the town of Tel Tamer.
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