KIRKUK – Some 200 people identifying themselves as Yezidi Kurds captured in Shingal arrived in Kirkuk, where authorities were investigating whether they were genuine prisoners freed by Islamic State or ISIS infiltrators.
They arrived at the checkpoint to the town of Maktab-Khalid in Kirkuk, where authorities are carrying out an investigation before letting them through.
A Rudaw reporter in Kirkuk quoted officials as saying the arrivals numbered between 150 to 200, and there were men, women and children among them.
“The governor of Kirkuk still has not allowed these people to enter the city, fearing ISIS conspiracies, because the officials in Kirkuk think that ISIS may have infiltrated its own people together with these Yezidis,” the reporter said.
ISIS captured Shingal in August, unleashing a spree of killings, rape and kidnappings against the town’s predominantly Yezidi population.
KRG officials say they have been rescuing Yezidi captives by paying for their release. The Kurdish government said in November that it had purchased the freedom of 234 Yezidi captives from ISIS in return for $1.5 million paid to intermediaries.
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