Kurdish MP urges Iraq to rescue Ezidi children ‘brainwashed by IS’

A Kurdish member of the Iraqi Parliament on Monday urged the central government in Baghdad to immediately intervene and release up to 120 Yezidi (Ezidi) children kidnapped by the Islamic State (IS).

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A Kurdish member of the Iraqi Parliament on Monday urged the central government in Baghdad to immediately intervene and release up to 120 Yezidi (Ezidi) children kidnapped by the Islamic State (IS).

MP Vian Dakhil, herself an Ezidi Kurd, said the children were abducted from their families when the extremist group overran Shingal in 2014.

“Nearly 120 Ezidi children, aged 10 to 13, are being brainwashed into fighting alongside the IS militants in Syria,” she told al-Sumeriya news agency.

According to Dakhil, the extremists are forcing “the kidnapped Ezidi children to wear military uniforms and fight within their ranks in Syria.”

The Kurdish MP called on the Iraqi security forces stationed on the Iraqi-Syrian border to treat these children as “victims, not as terrorists.”

A screenshot from a propaganda video released by the Islamic State (IS) shows children wearing military uniforms being encouraged to fight within the group's ranks.
A screenshot from a propaganda video released by the Islamic State (IS) shows children wearing military uniforms being encouraged to fight within the group's ranks.

IS launched a blitzkrieg into northern Iraq and Syria in mid-2014, executing thousands of innocent people, including the August 2014 genocide against Ezidis in Shingal.

The extremist group murdered thousands of men and boys and kidnapped women and girls to trade as sex slaves. IS’ assault forced at least 300,000 Ezidis to flee the area and seek safety in the Kurdistan Region.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces, supported by US-led coalition airstrikes, liberated the region from the militant group in November 2015, but an estimated 3,500 Ezidis remain in IS captivity in Iraq and Syria.

Despite Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declaring a “final victory” against IS late last year, the extremist group continues to launch random attacks across the country.