Over 100 Izadis leave Iraq every day: Official
More than 100 members of the Izadi Kurdish community leave Iraq on a daily basis to save their lives amid the unrelenting threat of death from militants of the ISIL Takfiri group, officials say.
Hussein al-Qaedi, director of the Office of Abductee Affairs in the northern Iraqi city of Duhok, which works to locate captive Izadis and free them, told the Arabic-language al-Sumaria satellite television network on Monday that over 3,000 Izadis, mostly women and children, are still being held captive by ISIL terrorists, noting that the Takfiris are treating the abductees cruelly and subjecting them to various types of abuse and torture.
He added that the majority of the kidnapped Izadi children are learning combat skills at ISIL training camps to carry out acts of terror, and that the Takfiris are trying to impose their heavily distorted principles on the minors.
Qaedi further noted that his office has managed to rescue 2,014 Izadi captives so far, stressing that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has greatly assisted in such efforts.
He said the rescued Izadis recount their ordeals at the hands of ISIL militants, and are in dire need of both financial and moral support.
Meanwhile, dozens of Izadis gathered at the Tahrir Square in the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad on Monday to commemorate the anniversary of the ISIL onslaught against members of their community.
The protesters called upon Iraqi authorities to spare no efforts in redressing Izadis’ rights.
The KRG estimates that there are 550,000 members of the Izadi community in Iraq. Izadis reportedly account for 400,000 of the more than three million people, who have been displaced in Iraq ever since ISIL Takfiris began their onslaught through Iraqi territory in June 2014.
According to the KRG figures, 1,280 Izadis were killed when ISIL terrorists overran the city of Sinjar last summer. Tens of thousands of people, fearing for their lives, scrambled up the mountains surrounding the area, and remained stranded there for days without any basic commodities and in sizzling temperatures.
The United Nations has said that ISIL atrocities against the Izadi Kurds may amount to genocide.
In May, Zainab Bangura, the special representative of the UN secretary general on sexual violence in conflict, said the Takfiri group is committing horrendous crimes against women, particularly against those from the Izadi community.
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