Accessibility links

Breaking News

IS Releases More Than 200 Captive Yazidis In Iraq


Hundreds Of Yazidis Released By Islamic State In Iraq
please wait

No media source currently available

0:00 0:00:55 0:00

The Islamic State (IS) extremist group has freed more than 200 members of Iraq's Yazidi minority it held captive for months.

A commander in the Kurdish peshmerga forces, Major General Westa Rasul, told the AFP news agency on April 8, "We have received 227 Yazidis, among them women and children" in the northern province of Kirkuk.

Reuters news agency reported that all of those released were elderly or infirm, and also included two Christians.

The IS group swept through parts of northern Iraq in June, killing hundreds of male members of religious minorities, particularly Yazidis, while enslaving women and forcing small children to convert to Islam.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Iraq fled their homes ahead of the IS advance.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG