ISIS releases Kurdish shepherd after receiving $25,000 ransom

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – ISIS released a Kurdish shepherd in the Kurdistan Region’s Garmiyan on Saturday evening after his family paid the $25,000 ransom demanded by the group. 

The militants kidnapped Farhan Yassin in the Dawooda area near the town of Kifri on Apr. 1. The group initially demanded $150,000 from his family. However, they later settled for a much smaller sum of $25,000, Kurdish security forces told Kurdistan 24. 

Yassin’s family and the kidnappers were negotiating the ransom payment for almost 20 days.

The militants had previously kidnapped civilians from the area and later released them in exchange for ransom payments. 

In early April, ISIS kidnapped four Arab shepherds in the southern Kirkuk district of Daquq. The group also demanded $150,000 in return for their release. The fate of those shepherds remains unknown. 

While ISIS was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017, it remains capable of executing hit-and-run attacks against civilians and security forces, primarily in remote parts of the country’s north and west. 

The Iraqi and Kurdistan Region forces regularly conduct sweeping operations in these areas to secure them and search for ISIS remnants. Iraqi Air Force fighter jets also frequently target hideouts and caves used by the group. 

Additional reporting by Harem Jaff