ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A Yezidi woman held captive by ISIS militants in southeastern Mosul for nearly three years was freed by Iraqi armed forces on Thursday alongside many other residents of the city fleeing the clutches of the extremist group, an army official told Rudaw.
“Following the recapture of the Nineveh-Kirkuk road, the army’s advances, and intensity of clashes in southeastern Mosul, a large number of residents fleeing ISIS reached areas under the army’s control and a Yezidi woman was among them,” said Shawkat Jawdat, commander of the Iraqi Federal Police.
Jawdat added that the “Yezidi woman had been held captive by ISIS since June 9, 2014. She was received by the security committee as she was holding a kid in her arms.”
Last week, another four Yezidi women were able to flee ISIS in Mosul and reunite with their families. They had been kidnapped during the group's brutal march into the predominantly Yezidi town of Shingal in August 2014.
According to statistics recorded by Dohuk’s office of the affairs of the kidnapped, over 3,700 Yezidis are still held captive by ISIS, many of whom are women and children.
The head of the office had earlier told Rudaw that they have rescued 2,669 people from ISIS thus far.
In coordination with the US-led coalition, the Iraqi army resumed what they describe as the second phase of the Mosul battle on December 29, with the aim of clearing the left side of the city from ISIS entirely.
“Following the recapture of the Nineveh-Kirkuk road, the army’s advances, and intensity of clashes in southeastern Mosul, a large number of residents fleeing ISIS reached areas under the army’s control and a Yezidi woman was among them,” said Shawkat Jawdat, commander of the Iraqi Federal Police.
Jawdat added that the “Yezidi woman had been held captive by ISIS since June 9, 2014. She was received by the security committee as she was holding a kid in her arms.”
Last week, another four Yezidi women were able to flee ISIS in Mosul and reunite with their families. They had been kidnapped during the group's brutal march into the predominantly Yezidi town of Shingal in August 2014.
According to statistics recorded by Dohuk’s office of the affairs of the kidnapped, over 3,700 Yezidis are still held captive by ISIS, many of whom are women and children.
The head of the office had earlier told Rudaw that they have rescued 2,669 people from ISIS thus far.
In coordination with the US-led coalition, the Iraqi army resumed what they describe as the second phase of the Mosul battle on December 29, with the aim of clearing the left side of the city from ISIS entirely.
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