EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Kurdistan Counter-terrorism reunites a kidnapped Ezidi woman with her family

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – On Wednesday after midnight, Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) Counter-terrorism forces rescued an Ezidi woman with her son from the jihadists in the town of Hawija, west of Kirkuk Province.

Faiza Bapir is the woman that was held captive by the Islamic State (IS) since August 2014 after the group occupied the city of Sinjar (Shingal) in the southwest of Kurdistan Region.

KRSC Counter-terrorism forces walked for 48-hour in the dark to rescue Faiza and her child from IS. The road they walked on was filled with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), all planted by the IS militants, according to a security source.

After Faiza was rescued, she met her parents in Erbil. “During the two years she was kidnapped, we talked only twice via voice recordings,” Faiza’s mother told Kurdistan24.

She hoped that all the Ezidi women that remain in the hands of the jihadist group will be rescued by the Kurdish security forces.

The General Director of Erbil Security Tariq Nouri revealed to Kurdistan24 that Faiza’s rescue mission was based on the command of the Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani. Specially-trained commandos were used for this mission.

“The rescue mission started after a week of searching and monitoring for Faiza’s location,” Nouri said.

Previously, Hadi Dubani, the Ezidi Director for Yezidi (Ezidi) affairs in Duhok Province told Kurdistan24 that 2,593 Ezidi women have been freed with the support of Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani’s office. To date 3,793 Ezidis remain in IS custody.

Editing by Ava Homa
(Bargasht Akrayi contributed to this report)