Two Yezidis rescued days ahead of the Fall of Sinjar anniversary

Efforts to rescue Ezidis taken by the Islamic State and who remain in captivity resulted in the liberation of two victims ahead of the four-year anniversary of the fall of Shingal.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Efforts to rescue Yezidis (Ezidis) taken by the Islamic State (IS) and who remain in captivity resulted in the liberation of two victims ahead of the four-year anniversary of the fall of Sinjar (Shingal), the latest success story by Kurdish authorities in Iraq.

In a statement released on Sunday, Hussein al-Qaidi, the director of the Duhok Ezidi Rescue office, two kidnapped Ezidis, both 18 years old, were rescued from a Syrian town and safely transferred to the Kurdistan Region.

The pair, a young man and woman, were taken by the jihadist group in 2014, when IS stormed the Ezidi-populated Shingal region in northern Iraq. Many Ezidi captives, however, were transferred to Syria as IS militants were driven out of the Nineveh province by the Kurdish Peshmerga, US-led coalition, and Iraqi forces during the three-year-long war against the extremist group in Iraq.

According to the statement, “strenuous efforts continue to be exerted to release the remaining Ezidi victims from the Islamic State’s grip.”

“We are trying to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the genocide against Ezidis in Shingal, and through mediators, bring a smile to the faces of victims, their families, and provide constant support,” Qaidi noted in his statement.

“We promise our sons and daughters that we will spare no effort to save those who remain in the hands of these terrorists.”

Since the Ezidi Rescue office opened at the end of 2014, Qaidi added, they were able to “save more than half of Ezidis who were captured and held by the families of terrorists.” Over 6,000 Ezidis were kidnapped by IS.

In May, four Ezidi teenagers from the villages of Kocho, Tal Qassab, Tal Banat, and Gir Ozeir were rescued and taken back to the Kurdistan Region. There were fears, however, that they had spent enough time in captivity for IS to impose their dangerous ideology on them.

The four had also been rescued from within Syria.

Ezidis were subjected to atrocities and mass executions at the hands of the jihadist group for a number of years after IS overran Shingal in Aug. 2014, forcing hundreds of thousands of Ezidis to flee their homes. Others were not as lucky and remained stranded in the war zone.

IS is known for having subjected women to sexual slavery, kidnapped children for forced conversion, executed the men, abused, sold, and trafficked girls across areas they controlled in Iraq and Syria.

While IS was driven out of Sinjar in November 2015 by Kurdish forces with the support of the US-led coalition, few Ezidis have returned: Only 20 percent of the population has returned home because of security concerns, IEDs, and basic services sorely lacking.

August 3 will mark the fourth anniversary of the Ezidi genocide at the hands of the IS terrorist group. Over 3,000 Ezidis remain in IS captivity in Iraq and Syria.