WATCH: Ezidi girls distributed among IS leaders in Hawija, says IS prisoner
A captured Islamic State (IS) member in Kirkuk revealed that kidnapped Yazidi (Ezidi) women and girls were taken from Mosul and brought to Hawija to be distributed among jihadist leaders.
KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) - A captured Islamic State (IS) member in Kirkuk revealed that kidnapped Yazidi (Ezidi) women and girls were taken from Mosul and brought to Hawija to be distributed among jihadist leaders.
In an interview with Kurdistan 24, an IS militant admitted he participated in offensives against Peshmerga in the south of Kirkuk province, notably in the Maktab Khalid battle.
"The first fight I took part in was Maktab Khalid [in the south of Kirkuk]. We suffered defeat and retreated, but we held some Peshmerga as captives."
He mentioned the Peshmerga prisoners were kept in Hawija for some time but were then taken elsewhere.
The detained IS prisoner performed a 15-day military training and became a policeman in the town of Rashad.
He claimed the jihadist group brought Ezidi women to Hawija and distributed them among the local leaders as a gift. "Only IS leaders were receiving Ezidi women."
The jihadist recounted one episode where a Ezidi girl tried to escape but was caught by the IS militants who executed her.
Following IS' storming and occupation of the Ezidi-majority city of Sinjar (Shingal) in Aug. 2014, thousands of Ezidi girls and women were kidnapped and sold in IS markets as sex slaves.
Brigadier General Sarhad Qadir, director of Kirkuk's suburban police, told Kurdistan 24 they have arrested over 200 IS members in Kirkuk in the past year.
Editing by G.H. Renaud
(Soran Kamaran contributed to this report)