Two kidnapped Ezidi children reunited with family

Two Kurdish Ezidi children who were held captive by the Islamic State (IS) over the past few years were reunited with family, according to an official.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Two Kurdish Yezidi (Ezidi) children who were held captive by the Islamic State (IS) over the past few years were reunited with family, according to an official.

Sakina Mohammed Younis, head of the abducted and rescued commission in the Nineveh Province, announced on Thursday that two Ezidi children had been found and freed from the jihadist group without giving further details.

Ayoub and Maryam, whose real names were Dulvan and Cihan, were reunited with their family after a DNA test was done, Younis revealed in a statement.

She also thanked all those who contributed to the rescue of the two children.

Following the occupation of the Ezidi-populated city of Sinjar (Shingal) in 2014, IS kidnapped thousands of people, mostly women and children, and executed the men. The crimes committed against the Ezidi people have been recognized as a genocide by many countries and the UN.

Many Ezidis have been rescued so far, but the whereabouts of over three thousand more remain unknown.

There are roughly one million Ezidis worldwide, with most of them residing in the Kurdistan Region. Following IS' attack on Shingal in 2014, hundreds of thousands of Ezidis were displaced to the Kurdistan Region while others moved abroad.  

Editing by Nadia Riva