Assyrian Children Forced to Watch ISIS Beheadings

Assyrian Christians fleeing ISIS from Syria who've made it to Beirut, Lebanon, have said that their children were forced to watch beheadings and other atrocities carried out by the Islamic militants. Over 220 Assyrians remain in captivity, with ISIS demanding millions in ransoms, but there's no one who has the ability to pay. "Our children saw many beheadings," said Jack Zayya, an Assyrian Christian refugee, according to World Crunch. "We were obligated to watch public executions. What kind of world is that for kids to grow up in? They were always scared." Zayya said that ISIS has destroyed his livelihood back at his hometown of Al-Hasakah in Syria, and has told Christians they must pay taxes to the jihadists or be killed. "Kidnappings were about getting ransom from rich families or individuals at first," he continued. "With Daesh [ISIS], though, there is no negotiating. We had to pay the jizya tax or die." When an ISIS sheik was appointed as emir of the Al-Hasakah area, the militants moved to remove and destroy church crosses. They banned Christians from wearing crucifixes, from driving or riding in cars, and ordered women to wear burkas. ISIS has heavily targeted Assyrian Christians in the past year, and in February kidnapped over 220 of them from 35 different village in the Hasakah province. The terror group has asked for $23 million for their release, but Syrian Catholic Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo said in April that no one in the region has the financial ability to pay the ransom. "Those of Daesh usually ask what they know they can get. In this case, the goal of getting $100,000 for each hostage would be completely unattainable, and they know it," he said. In another attack in the city of Hassak