ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Thirty-one Yezidi prisoners escaped the captivity of the so-called Islamic State group Thursday morning in Tal Afar, northern Nineveh province, according to a Peshmerga official.
“With the help of the Peshmerga, 27 Kurdish Yezidi women and four children managed to escape from ISIS captivity in Tal Afar,” said Hashim Sitai, the commander of Peshmerga forces in Mount Shingal. “They are from the village of Saolagh, eastern Shingal.”
The freeing of the captives followed ISIS’ release of more than 200 Yezidis Wednesday after they were held for eight months, an Iraqi Kurdish security official said.
The Shingal Mountains and other parts of Nineveh province, including Iraq’s second largest city Mosul, were overrun by ISIS in a summer 2014 offensive. Yezidis have been particularly targeted by the jihadi group for their non-Islamic faith. ISIS has branded Yezidis infidels, and many Yezidi women have reportedly been taken by the group for use as sex slaves.
“With the help of the Peshmerga, 27 Kurdish Yezidi women and four children managed to escape from ISIS captivity in Tal Afar,” said Hashim Sitai, the commander of Peshmerga forces in Mount Shingal. “They are from the village of Saolagh, eastern Shingal.”
The freeing of the captives followed ISIS’ release of more than 200 Yezidis Wednesday after they were held for eight months, an Iraqi Kurdish security official said.
The Shingal Mountains and other parts of Nineveh province, including Iraq’s second largest city Mosul, were overrun by ISIS in a summer 2014 offensive. Yezidis have been particularly targeted by the jihadi group for their non-Islamic faith. ISIS has branded Yezidis infidels, and many Yezidi women have reportedly been taken by the group for use as sex slaves.
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