Father Christopher Zugger

The maniacs of ISIS kidnapped thousands of Christian and Yazidi children, often slaughtering their parents and siblings in front of them. This girl was pulled from her mother’s arms by a jihadist as the family tried to escape from Qaraqosh, once the biggest Christian city in Iraq (50,000 faithful in 2012).  What kind of men do such things to families in the name of God? Her father and brother both died of starvation in their own house – the jihadists would not feed these two deaf-mute men, nor a 70 year old neighbor who also could not escape. The Quran commands mercy, but also gives conquerors the right to anything or anyone they want. At least a Muslim neighbor took all the bodies and buried them in a burned out church. – Fr Chris  

Christina Khader Ebada, the three year-old Assyrian girl who was kidnapped by ISIS three years ago, has been reunited with her family in North Iraq. The Iraqi Army, currently fighting ISIS for the liberation of Mosul, contacted Allen Kakony, a journalist and photographer, and told him “a six-year-old Christian girl had been liberated” from the hands of ISIS. According to the Huffington Post, her parents where contacted and told to report to a designated location in Mosul where she would be returned to them.

Related: Timeline of ISIS in Iraq
Related: Attacks on Assyrians in Syria By ISIS and Other Muslim Groups

According to Fox News, Christina brother said in a statement “With all that we have been through, we are overjoyed that our Christina has been returned to us safely. I thank all those who have prayed for her safe return.”

Christina was abducted from her family by ISIS in August, 2014, as she and her parents were leaving Baghdede (Qaraqosh), the largest Assyrian city in Iraq (AINA 2014-08-25). She was last seen by her mother crying and sobbing as a heavily bearded man carried her away. Her mother was interviewed three days after she was snatched from her arms by ISIS (AINA 2014-08-28) and said at the time “She will die if she does not see me.”

Christian is now six years old and is unable to speak except for a few words in Arabic, as she has apparently forgotten her Assyrian language. According to an Assyrian resident quoted by World Watch Monitor, “She looks OK, quite healthy. I believe she must have been in the house of a family who took good care of her. She was even wearing gold earrings, so it must have been a wealthy family.”