Iraqi forces have managed to rescue 354 Izadi women from the Takfiri Daesh terrorists in the recently-liberated city of Fallujah, an Izadi official with Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) says.
“Iraqi forces involved in Fallujah’s [liberation] operation have managed to free 354 Izadi women, who were abducted by militants of Daesh organization after they took control of the Izadi-majority Shingal (Sinjar) region in August 2014,” Hadi Dubani, the director of Izadi Affairs in the city of Dohuk, told the German news agency DPA on Sunday.
Dubani further said the women are now in al-Amiriyah area, south of Fallujah, “under the protection of Iraqi forces,” adding Iraqi forces are arranging their return to the Kurdistan region.
Iraqi forces announced on June 17 that they had seized almost full control over the strategic city of Fallujah, which had been in the hands of the Takfiri Daesh terrorists for almost two and a half years until then.
According to Iraq’s al-Masalah news website, the volunteer fighters known as the Popular Mobilization forces or Hashd al-Shaabi will oversee the women’s return to their areas after taking the necessary security and health measures.
In August 2014, Daesh terrorists overran the Iraqi town of Sinjar and systematically massacred, captured and enslaved thousands of Izadis.
Over the past few months, several mass graves containing bodies of people, including members of the Izadi minority group, have been uncovered in Iraq and Syria.
Daesh militants have been carrying out horrific acts of violence, such as public decapitations and crucifixions, against all communities, in Iraq and Syria.
On Thursday, a United Nations investigative panel said that Daesh terrorist group is still committing genocide against Izadi minority in Iraq and Syria, and urged action against Daesh crimes against the Kurdish-speaking community.
The Thursday report estimated that some 3,200 Izadi women and children were being held by Daesh, mainly in war-torn Syria.