200 abducted Yazidis released by Islamic State in northern Iraq
More than 200 Yazidis abducted by Islamic State in August were released Wednesday, Iraqi government officials said, in what was characterized as a rare act of goodwill by the violent extremist group.
Vian Dakhil, an Iraqi parliament member, confirmed that 217 Yazidis, including 60 children, had arrived in Kirkuk province.
"I am now with them, and seeing what medical and food assistance they require," she said. Most of those released were elderly or disabled.
The announcement came as Islamic State reportedly suffered setbacks in a Palestinian refugee camp outside Damascus, the Syrian capital, where its fighters have been under siege by Palestinian factions and Syrian government bombardment.
In August, Dakhil, who is Yazidi, issued a tearful call to the international community to save hundreds of her compatriots abducted by Islamic State militants. The Yazidis are followers of an ancient faith linked to Zoroastrianism but viewed as satanic by Islamic State, which has claimed a vast area of Iraq and Syria in the name of an Islamic "caliphate."
Those who managed to escape found themselves besieged by Islamic State atop Mt. Sinjar, in Iraq's northwest, prompting the U.S. to initiate a massive airlift to rescue them.
Many Yazidis remain missing, however. Soon after seizing them, Islamic State issued a series of edicts, backed by religious texts, explaining that Yazidis could be used as slaves. Reports soon appeared of Yazidi women taken to Islamic State strongholds in Mosul, 70 miles east of Mt. Sinjar, and across the border to Raqqah in neighboring Syria.
Hassan Omar, a spokesman for Dakhil, said those released had come from the town of Tall Afar, 39 miles west of Mosul. He said the captives had been released by local Arab tribesmen.
"We don't have solid information, but we heard this was a goodwill gesture from Islamic State to the [Sunni] tribes," he said.
Tension has risen in Iraq's northern regions in the last year as a result of Islamic State's deliberate and systematic targeting of minorities, including Kurds, Yazidis and Christians. Islamic State espouses a harsh interpretation of Sunni Islam.
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200 abducted Yazidis released by Islamic State in northern Iraq