Apr 10, 2015

Turkmen Kidnapped by ISIS; Yezidis Escape


This week, Iraqi Turkmen MP, Nahla Hussein, disclosed to the press that during the past few months militants belonging to the so-called Islamic State have abducted at least 416 Turkmen, mostly women and children. A large account of Turkmen have joined forces and fled for the northern and southern Iraqi provinces. In the northern region, 200 Yezidis have been released and 31 managed to escape IS captivity with the assistance of the Kurdish Peshmerga.

Below is an article published by Middle East Monitor:

Iraqi Turkmen MP, Nahla Hussein, disclosed on Tuesday [7 April 2015] the kidnapping of 416 Turkmen by ISIS during the past few months, Anadolu agency reported.

In a press statement, Hussein disclosed that most of the kidnapped Turkmen were women and children. ISIS is "training the kidnapped children on fighting techniques and mines preparations after killing their families," she added.

Thousands of Turkmen have fled Telafar city, 90 km west of Mosul, as a result of the fighting, heading mostly for the Kurdish northern region and southern Iraqi provinces.

Reports say that around 14,000 Turkmen have joined the People's Army, a paramilitary militia mostly dominated by Shiites, and fighting against ISIS alongside Iraqi government forces.

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Below is an article published by Rudaw:

Thirty-one Yezidi prisoners escaped the captivity of the so-called Islamic State group Thursday morning [9 April 2015] in Tal Afar, northern Nineveh province, according to a Peshmerga official.

“With the help of the Peshmerga, 27 Kurdish Yezidi women and four children managed to escape from ISIS captivity in Tal Afar,” said Hashim Sitai, the commander of Peshmerga forces in Mount Shingal. “They are from the village of Saolagh, eastern Shingal.”

The freeing of the captives followed ISIS’ release of more than 200 Yezidis Wednesday [8 April 2015] after they were held for eight months, an Iraqi Kurdish security official said.

The Shingal Mountains and other parts of Nineveh province, including Iraq’s second largest city Mosul, were overrun by ISIS in a summer 2014 offensive. Yezidis have been particularly targeted by the jihadi group for their non-Islamic faith. ISIS has branded Yezidis infidels, and many Yezidi women have reportedly been taken by the group for use as sex slaves.