ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — More than 100 families who had lived under the Islamic State occupation of Shingal have been received by Peshmerga forces in the newly liberated city, but a Peshmerga official has cautioned that Kurdish forces cannot be sure of the loyalties of these families, and that some may have pro-ISIS sympathies.
A Peshmerga officer who was among those who received the families told Rudaw they had fled the Qabwsi compound in Shingal, but some might be “enemies of Kurds and linked with the terrorist organization.”
He added those who are suspected of having links with ISIS will be questioned by Kurdish security elements.
A man who was among the families told Rudaw that life at the hands of ISIS was like being in “prison” and no one was allowed to go outside.
“After the Shingal liberation we managed to escape because we were only 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) away from the borders that are managed by Peshmerga forces in Shingal,” he continued. “Kurdish Peshmerga fighters received us and helped us.”
On Thursday, Peshmerga forces launched a dawn assault to liberate the town of Shingal from ISIS.
ISIS attacked the predominantly Kurdish Yezidi town of Shingal in August 2014, triggering a grim humanitarian crisis as thousands of locals fled to the safety of nearby Mount Shingal where they were trapped for weeks.
On Friday, vowing that “no other flag will rise in [Shingal],” Kurdistan region President Masoud Barzani declared the town liberated from ISIS, and congratulated Yezidi Kurds on the victory.
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