Yezidi woman rescued from ISIS cells in notorious al-Hol camp

“ISIS members took us first to Mosul, then we were transferred to Raqqa where we had been repeatedly raped, enslaved, and sold out in slave markets."
Wafa Ali, 18, recalling his captivity story to Kurdistan 24, Sept. 13, 2022. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)
Wafa Ali, 18, recalling his captivity story to Kurdistan 24, Sept. 13, 2022. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On August 3, the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) managed to liberate an 18-year-old Yezidi woman from the al-Hol camp during Operation Humanity and Security, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced.

So far, the Asayish during the operation launched on August 25. swept more than 50 per cent of the camp and arrested 121 ISIS suspects, including 15 women.

The SDF said that the Yezidi woman was originally from Kocho village in Sinjar, where ISIS massacred villagers there during the Yezidi Genocide that it launched in August 2014.

Read More: Yezidi women remain missing 8 years after Yezidi genocide

During the genocide, ISIS also kidnapped thousands of Yezidi girls and women, who were sold into slavery. According to the latest data from the Kurdistan Regional Government, today 2,700 Yezidi women and children still remain missing, while 325,000 still remain displaced in camps.

Some of the women were found in al-Hol, some are still in Idlib province under rebel control, other Yezidi women were found in Turkey.

Read More: Kidnapped by ISIS in 2014, Yezidi girl found in Turkey returns to Kurdistan Region

“ISIS members took us first to Mosul, then we were transferred to Raqqa where we had been repeatedly raped, enslaved, and sold out in slave markets,” Waffa said, who was nine year old when she was kidnapped.

After her enslavement, she was repeatedly married off to ISIS militants. “After a series of marriages, I got married to the seventh one when I arrived at the camp,” she said. After arriving in the camp, she was kept prisoner by ISIS cells in the camp, the SDF said.

However, during the latest anti-ISIS operation, female fighters of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) managed to free her. “Now I would like to return to my hometown in Kocho and reunite with my family,” she said.

Last year, 80 organizations and experts urged that efforts to rescue as many as possible among those Yezidi women and children still unaccounted for.

Read More: Yezidis welcome statement of 'great concern' by 18 nations on missing captives

The same year, 18 foreign countries, most of them European, expressed their concern and solidarity over this issue.