NGO says 431 Yazidis freed from ISIS captivity since defeat in NE Syria
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – A Yazidi organization revealed on Saturday that 431 people, including 274 Yazidi women, have been freed from the Islamic State (ISIS) captivity by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) since the defeat of the group in northeastern Syria in 2019.
Ismail Dalaf, co-chair of the Yazidi House in Hasakah in northeastern Syria, said the Internal Security Forces of North and East Syria (Asayish) and the administration of the Hawl Camp recently handed over Aziza Khaled Ali, 27, her daughter, and another young girl, Khunav Nayef Khudr to them.
The Yazidi House, a civil non-governmental organization, works to return the freed prisoners and kidnapped people in Syria to their families in coordination with the official authorities of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
On June 5, the Asayish announced freeing a Yazidi woman and two young girls from Hawl in Northeast Syria.
Dalaf added that they confirmed the identities of the woman and the children from the missing Yazidis records and contacted their families in Sinjar (Shengal) to hand them over to the Shengal Council, who will in turn reunite them with their families in the village of Kojo in the outskirts of Sinjar.
Dalaf pointed out the woman and girls will be rehabilitated before being returned.
On Aug. 3, 2014, ISIS killed thousands of Yazidi men and kidnaped more than 6,000 Yazidis during its attack on Sinjar (Shengal).
Most of the Yazidis were sold as sex slaves by ISIS militants in markets in Syria and Iraq.
The SDF managed to free hundreds of Yazidis in Syria after ISIS’ defeat in its last stronghold in the town of Baghuz in eastern Deir ez-Zor. Many, however, remain missing.