Syria
Blurred image of the Yazidi man rescued by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Photo: SDF Press Center
prev
next
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Tuesday that they have rescued a Yazidi man who was abducted by the Islamic State (ISIS) around 11 years ago, when he was just eight years old. The individual was taken along with his family during ISIS’s brutal assault on the predominantly Yazidi district of Shingal (Sinjar) in the summer of 2014.
In a statement, the SDF said that its military operations units carried out a “special security operation” on March 12, 2025 to free the kidnapped Yazidi individual.
For privacy reasons, Rudaw has identified the young man only by his initials, O.K.
According to the SDF, the Yazidi man “is originally from the village of al-Wardiya in the Sinjar region, which witnessed large-scale massacres committed by ISIS, and where thousands of men, youth, and elders were killed, and more than 7,000 women and girls were abducted.” O.K. “was one of the victims of that massacre.”
Now 19, O.K. was quoted by the SDF statement as sharing the harrowing story of his abduction by ISIS.
“I was born in 2006, and I was just a child when ISIS kidnapped me in 2014. ISIS captured me and my family, but separated me and my brother.”
He said that he was held in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which ISIS in 2014 declared as the capital of its proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq. He remained in Mosul for three months before being separated from his brother and transferred, along with 60 other Yazidi children, to the city of Albu Kamal in eastern Syria.
“After arriving in Al-Bukamal, ISIS subjected us to a three-year religious indoctrination course. I was given the name ‘Osama al-Sinjari.’ Then we were moved to the Syrian desert for another three years of military training,” he recounted.
Following that, he was sent to the Homs desert in western Syria, where he served as an ISIS fighter for four years. During this time, he sustained a landmine injury to his right leg.
O.K. noted that near the end of 2024 and “while I was getting treatment at one of the ISIS hideouts in the Homs desert, the hideout was struck by an intense airstrike from the [US-led] Global Coalition [to Defeat ISIS], which resulted in the death of 20 terrorists, including high-ranking commanders.”
“I miraculously survived the bombing,” he said, expressing his relief and gratitude toward the SDF for “liberating him and thousands of other Yazidis, particularly women, from the grip of ISIS.”
During its 2014 assault on Shingal, ISIS abducted 6,417 Yazidi women and children, many of whom were subjected to sexual slavery and forced labor. Although the group was territorially defeated in Iraq by 2017 and in Syria by 2019, it continues to pose a security threat in the region.
As of now, 2,590 Yazidis remain missing, according to the Office of Rescuing Abducted Yazidis, which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
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