Reports say that 22 Syrian Christian families (over 60 people) are being held captive by Islamic State (IS) in Raqqa, the capital city of their territory.
These families tried to escape in mid November, but were detained and returned to the city, where they are now trapped. Sources informed Barnabas Fund that they were apparently being used by IS as a human shield.
At the time of writing, at least 387 other Syrian Christians are known to be held as formal hostages by IS. On 2 December, Prime Minister David Cameron described Raqqa as the HQ of IS, which had to be destroyed.
