52 Ezidis escape IS, arrive in Shingal

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – On Tuesday evening, 52 Kurdish Ezidis (Yezidis) escaped Islamic State (IS) in Raqqa, Syria, and arrived at Peshmerga frontline in Sinjar (Shingal), said a Kurdish Ezidi official.

Ezidi representative in the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Khairi Bozani told Kurdistan24 that 52 Ezidis have escaped extremists in Raqqa and arrived in Shingal.

“42 of them are children and the rest are women,” Bozani said. “They were previously arrested by IS and transferred to Raqqa in Syria, but later they could find a way to escape with the help of some people and arrived in Peshmerga frontline in Shingal on Tuesday evening.”

He also mentioned that last week, 31 more Ezidis were freed from IS in Syria, and the total number of freed Ezidis in March raised to 88 people.

People who escape IS-controlled territories are monitored for security reasons because according to Peshmerga commanders, IS often attempts to send their members with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to Kurdistan Region as sleeper cells. After proper investigations, they will be sent to the medical clinics to make sure that they are in stable health conditions.

Shingal was occupied by IS on August 2014. Following the occupation, IS carried out mass executions and sold Ezidi women in market in Syria as a war slave and property. On Nov. 13, 2015, Peshmerga forces with the aerial support of the international coalition jets liberated Shingal and pushed out IS from the city.

Reporting by Mewan Dolamari
Editing by Ava Homa