The terrorist group, ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) has recently demanded ransom for a 26-year-old American woman who was held captive for over a year. The hostage was captured by the Islamic State while she was doing humanitarian work in Syria.
The captive woman, whose identity was not revealed due to a request from her family, is one of three other Americans who are known to be under captivity by the Islamic State. ISIS is demanding 6.6 USD for her release. ABC reported that ISIS is also demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, who is a neuroscientist from MIT who was convicted of try to kill two American officials two years ago.
ISIS has already captured a considerable amount of territory in the Iraq and Syria area. They have already beheaded James Foley, an American journalist and released a video of the killing through CNN. They are known to be holding another American reporter, Steven Sotloff, who was seen alive on video. In the footage, the reporter was shown with a militant threatening that their hostage's life depended on Obama's next move.
President Obama however stated that "no just God" would allow the Islamic State to get away with their objectives. He stated, "So ISIL speaks for no religion. Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just God would stand for what they did yesterday, and for what they do every single day. ISIL has no ideology of any value to human beings." He even added that ISIS' ideology is "bankrupt".
Meanwhile, Aafia Siddiqui's family has expressed that they are distraught by the fact that Aafia is being used as a ransom by the Islamic State. In a letter written by the family, a family member wrote, "If the issue is true, we would like to state that our family does not have any connections to such groups or actions. We believe in a struggle that is peaceful and dignified. Associating Aafia's name with acts of violence is against everything we are struggling for."
The letter also expressed that though the family is desperate to see Aafia's freedom, the family also made it clear that they do not wish to go through a "by any means necessary" approach to gaining his freedom.
Despite all the threats from the Islamic State regarding Steven Sotloff and the recently made public 26-year-old woman, the Obama administration announced that the U.S. will continue to aid the Iraqi government and Kurdish forces in their fight against the militants.
