The city of Shengal (Sinjar) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is the last contiguous settlement area of the Yazidi community. Thousands of Yazidis were murdered, and thousands of women and children were taken prisoner in the 3 August 2014 onslaught on Shengal by ISIS militants. While ISIS began murdering Yazidis in Shengal, the Peshmerga left, leaving the Yazidis behind, unprotected. The guerrillas of HPG (People’s Defense Forces) and YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops) and fighters of the YPG (People’s Defense Units) and YPJ (Women’s Defense Units) came to the Yazidi people’s aid in the face of ISIS aggression. Thanks to a months-long selfless struggle, the city was liberated on 13 November 2015. After the liberation of the city, the HPG and YPG/YPJ subsequently withdrew in 2017. People who returned to their land after Shengal’s independence reformed, established defensive units and built their institutions.
The fate of thousands of Yazidis, especially women, remains unknown. Many were sold in slave markets established by ISIS in cities such as Raqqa, Mosul, Deir ez-Zor, and Al-Bukamal. However, SDF forces have successfully liberated thousands of them, reuniting them to their families in Shengal.
Yazidi youngsters Diyar Elî Refo (born in 2003) and Osman Xêro Xudêda (born in 2006) were rescued by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) recently and handed over to the Yazidi House in the Cizîr Canton in North-East Syria on April 21.
Both young men had been abducted by ISIS during the genocidal onslaught in Shengal in 2014. They were taken to several locations where the mercenaries operated between Iraq and Syria. They also underwent so-called “Sharia courses.”
Following a press conference at the Til Koçer Border Crossing, organized by the Yazidi House in the Cizîr Canton and the SDF Communications Department, Diyar and Osman were handed over to their families and Iraqi government officials on Sunday.
Source: ANF News
