ISIS Holds Boy Named After Lionel Messi Captive for 2 Years

A three-year-old Kurdish Yazidi boy was reportedly kidnapped and held hostage for two years by ISIS because he was named after Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.

According to Iraq Today and Mohamed Mostafa of Iraqi News (via Chris Kitching in the Mirror), the young boy was abducted in 2014 along with his mother and sister. The family was later rescued after ISIS demanded a ransom and that his name be changed to Hassan.

His father told the Kurdistan 24 website (h/t Kitching) that his name was deemed "infidel" by the terrorist group.

Now five years old, the youngster is now with his father, mother and sister at a refugee camp in Dohuk, Iraqi Kurdistan, but has been left traumatised by the ordeal:

The kidnap took place when ISIS invaded Sinjar, Iraq, in late 2014 .