ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A captured female member of the Islamic State (ISIS) group was swapped for 50 Yezidi Kurdish women in the hands of the militants, a Syrian Kurdish commander said.
Saeid Hussein, a commander of the YPJ, the women’s wing of the Kurdish YPG force that controls Syria’s Kurdish regions, announced the swap.
“We arrested two ISIS members; one of them was a woman. We exchanged this woman for 50 Yezidi women,” he said.
There was some controversy, however, about the details of the exchange. Some sources said the swap took place because the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) had paid to secure the women’s release – something it has been doing since ISIS attacked Yezidi Shingal and kidnapped thousands of women in August 2014.
Qasim Darbo, a Peshmerga commander in Shingal, told Rudaw that his forces had ordered the YPJ to go ahead with the swap.
“They had no choice but to rescue them (the Yezidi women),” he said. “We had a military order to fight them (YPG) if they had refused.”
Saeid Hussein, a commander of the YPJ, the women’s wing of the Kurdish YPG force that controls Syria’s Kurdish regions, announced the swap.
“We arrested two ISIS members; one of them was a woman. We exchanged this woman for 50 Yezidi women,” he said.
There was some controversy, however, about the details of the exchange. Some sources said the swap took place because the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) had paid to secure the women’s release – something it has been doing since ISIS attacked Yezidi Shingal and kidnapped thousands of women in August 2014.
Qasim Darbo, a Peshmerga commander in Shingal, told Rudaw that his forces had ordered the YPJ to go ahead with the swap.
“They had no choice but to rescue them (the Yezidi women),” he said. “We had a military order to fight them (YPG) if they had refused.”
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment