IS holds 20 Ezidis hostage inside a Church in Mosul’s Old City

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Islamic State (IS) extremists have held 20 Ezidi Kurds captive in the Mosul’s Old City as their so-called Caliphate is on the verge of defeat in the city.

A Kurdistan24 correspondent in Mosul reported that on Saturday 20 Ezidis were held hostage by IS extremists in the Old City.

Zardash Hame added that the Ezidis, including women and children, have been held hostage inside a Church, the Iraqi security sources said.

The security forces are advancing towards the Church where the Ezidis are held captive.

On June, 11, the Iraqi troops discovered jail cells in west Mosul where IS had kept Ezidi women prisoners for the past three years.

According to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) figures, IS extremists enslaved 6417 Ezidis. So far 3048 Ezidis--1092 women, 334 men and 1622 children--have been rescued or have escaped IS.

On the 3rd of August 2014, IS extremists took control of Nineveh and other cities in Iraq. The victory was followed by an offensive on Shingal which resulted in the mass execution of Ezidi civilians, abduction, and enslavement of women and girls and indiscriminate killing of men.

Editing by Ava Homa