Two Ezidi girls rescued from IS in western Mosul

MOSUL, Iraq (Kurdistan24) – Two Kurdish Yezidi (Ezidi) girls rescued from the Islamic State (IS) in western Mosul on Monday were handed over to Peshmerga forces in the north of the city.

One of them is a 25-year-old woman and the other a nine-year-old child who were rescued by security forces belonging to the Deputy Nineveh Governor in Mosul.

Sheikh Muhiyaddin, Head of Public Relations at the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) office in Mosul, told Kurdistan24 the Iraqi security forces had helped rescue the two Ezidis.

The two have been transferred to the Peshmerga front lines in Nawaran, northern Mosul through Nineveh’s Deputy Governor Hassan Alaf.

Muhiyaddin added the two people had been under IS’ control for almost three years.

The freed Ezidis will reunite with their families in the Kurdistan Region soon, the KDP official told Kurdistan24.

In August 2014, the extremist group occupied the Ezidi city of Sinjar (Shingal). Once they controlled the area, they began executing people and enslaving thousands of Ezidi women.

Speaking to Kurdistan24, the 25-year-old woman who is from Shingal said there were nearly 3,000 Ezidis held in the IS-controlled areas.

According to her, they were on the east side of Mosul. However, after the Mosul military operation by the Iraqi and Peshmerga forces started, IS extremists transferred them to the western part of the city.

Regarding the rescued child, the woman said she was from the village of Wardiya located in southern Shingal, and her parents and siblings were still under IS captivity.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany 

(Additional reporting by Masoud Mohammed)

[CORRECTION: Kurdistan24 previously wrote two Ezidi women and a child.]