Yazidi woman held by Islamic State freed, militants killed in western Mosul
Yazidi families file photo.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Federal Police have declared liberation of a 17-year old Yazidi woman who was held by Islamic State in western Mosul.
“The troops freed the Yazidi woman Jihan Sido Kheder, 17, from the IS grip,” Lt.Gen.Shaker Jawdat said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The liberation came within an operation in Hawi al-Kanisa region, in west of Mosul,” Jawdat added. “Terrorist leaders Abul Hassan al-Iraqi, in charge of military engineering, and Mohamed Mejbal abu Othman, military leader of western Mosul, were killed during the operation.”
Last week, Federal Police’s Rapid Response forces announced freeing two Yazidi girls from IS control in 17 Tamuz (July 17th) district.
S abducted and executed hundreds of Yazidis after it took over Sinjar district, a Mosul region on the borders with Syria. News reports mentioned that the captives were distributed among the fighters in Iraq and Syria.
After Sinjar fell to IS in August 2014, thousands of Yazidi Kurds fled Sinjar to nearby mountain areas. In March, revealed data showed that 2,915 Yazidis, including nearly 1500 children, were rescued from IS captivity, while more than 3500, including nearly 1500 children, were still held by the extremist group. The ethno-religious minority of Yazidis came to the spotlight when Islamic State militants, taking over large parts of Iraq, victimized its members, massacred, enslaved and tortured thousands of the community members.
Iraqi commanders predict recapturing the remaining parts of the city this month.