Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Iraq

Two explosive drones downed over Sulaimani in day of security breaches

2025-07-02

Could it be various Shiite militias on Iran’s payroll?

[Rudaw] Two explosive-laden drones were intercepted over Sulaimani province on Tuesday, officials confirmed to Rudaw, with one crashing in the province’s northwest.

Ahmed Latif, spokesperson for Unit 70 of the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga Forces, told Rudaw that both drones were brought down within Sulaimani’s borders. He specified that "one was intercepted in the Tasluja area," northwest of Sulaimani city, while the second was downed "outside the perimeter of Unit 70’s forces."

Latif confirmed that neither incident resulted in casualties or material damage.

Salam Abdulkhaliq, head of the Sulaimani-based Asayish (security forces) media team, corroborated the report, stating that "two drones fell in the Tasluja area within Sulaimani’s borders" on Tuesday evening. He added that the Kurdish security forces’ investigation teams were dispatched to the scene and have launched a probe.

Abdulkhaliq also confirmed no casualties were reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, a separate drone incident occurred in the Darkar camp, approximately 36 kilometers northwest of Duhok city. The drone, laden with explosives, caused material damage but no injuries, according to the Kurdistan Region’s Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD).

The Darkar camp shelters Yazidis displaced from the Shingal (Sinjar) district following the Islamic State

Link

Iraq

Two more Yazidi stolen by ISIS in 2014 are returning home

2025-06-28

Yazidi young man rescued 11 years after ISIS captivity

[Rudaw] A Yazidi man will be repatriated to his hometown of Shingal (Sinjar) in the coming days, nearly 11 years after being kidnapped by the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS), an informed source told Rudaw on Thursday.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the source said that the 18-year-old Rawand N.H. was freed eight days ago in a 20-day operation. He is currently in the Kurdish-held northeast Syria (Rojava) and is expected to be reunited with family on Sunday.

He was freed in Syria’s Idlib province. It remains unclear who was involved in the operation.

From Rawand's family, 77 people were kidnapped by ISIS, of whom 38 have been freed so far, according to the source.

During its 2014 assault on Shingal, ISIS kidnapped 6,417 Yazidi women and kiddies, many of whom were subjected to sexual slavery and forced labor. Although the group was territorially defeated in Iraq by 2017 and in Syria by 2019, it continues to pose a security threat in the region.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced in April that they had rescued another Yazidi man.

As of now, nearly 2,600 Yazidis remain missing, according to the Office of Rescuing Abducted Yazidis, which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Presidency.

Kidnapped at 13, Yazidi woman reunited with family in Duhok

[Rudaw] A Yazidi woman who was kidnapped by the Islamic State (ISIS)

in 2014 has been reunited with her family in Duhok after nearly 11 years in captivity across Syria and Turkey.

Dima A., 24, was abducted from her hometown of Kocho in the Shingal district of northern Iraq at the age of 13, along with eight other family members. Her case is one of thousands in the Yazidi community, which was targeted by ISIS in its brutal campaign of mass abductions and killings.

“That life I lived before was very bad and I saw many types of torture,” Dima said after returning home. “They stole my childhood from me, they stole my dreams and destroyed my life. I won’t forgive them for this. Their fate is with God.”

“Today I am very happy because I have returned to my family after a long time. After nearly eleven years I have returned to my family and homeland,” she said.

During its 2014 assault on Shingal, ISIS abducted 6,417 Yazidi women and children, many of whom were subjected to sexual slavery and forced labor, or forced to marry their captors.

Dima said she was held for three years in Syria and then for seven years in Turkey. Last year, her Saudi Arabian husband tried to take her to Egypt, but they were detained due to problems with their passports and jailed for a year. After their release, she fled and contacted her family.

Her escape and return were coordinated by Abdullah Shrem, a Yazidi rescuer who has helped more than 400 people since ISIS's territorial defeat.

He said a network of friends helped bring Dima across Turkey.

“Through friends, we brought some people from Adana in Turkey to their homes, and then through some people we took them to Gaziantep, and today we brought this one across,” said Shrem. “We thank the government very much for helping us.”

Dima’s return brought relief to her community, many of whom still await news of their missing relatives.

“By God we are very happy and to anyone who helped us, may their homes be blessed,” said Mulka Khidir, a relative of Dima’s. “We hope all our girls will be rescued, they are everywhere - they are in Turkey, in Syria, in al-Hol camp and everywhere.”

Link

Iraq

Over 600 IDPs return to Shingal from Duhok: Migration ministry

2025-05-20

[Rudaw] More than 600 displaced people on Sunday returned to the Yazidi heartland of Shingal (Sinjar) from Duhok province, Iraq’s migration ministry said, as officials anticipate a rise in returns once schools go on break.

"The 126 families of 617 people returned to Shingal district from Duhok province," the spokesperson for the Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement Ali Jahangir told Rudaw on Sunday.

He added that once school holidays begin at the start of summer, the pace of repatriation will increase, noting that over 13,000 families have already returned from the Kurdistan Region in recent years, with around 21,000 still remaining.

In June 2014, the Islamic State

Link

Iraq

Mass grave of suspected ISIS militants found in Shingal

2025-05-17

[Rudaw] A mass grave believed to contain the remains of seven Islamic State

...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) members were uncovered in the Shingal (Sinjar) district of western Nineveh province earlier this week, local sources said on Friday.

The grave was discovered as residents began returning to the long-abandoned village of Korovi, cleaning up homes damaged during years of conflict. One house appeared to have been used by the jihadists, including as a grave.

"This village was abandoned for a long time. I mean we abandoned it 10 years ago and this house was vacated one or two years before ISIS. After things became better and people returned, he [the homeowner] also wanted to clean up his house. As he cleaned his house, bodies emerged, weapons and paraphernalia of an ISIS group emerged," Abdulaziz Mizr, a local resident, told Rudaw.

Alongside the remains, weapons and explosives were found.

"They had weapons, suicide belts, bombs," said Mizr.

An engineering team was called in to deal with the explosives.

"After they came and cleaned and looked at it, they took out their weapons. They also had a boom jacket, they also dismantled that and took it out... After they cleaned, the engineering team said there was nothing left here. They cleared the whole place. The engineering team handed the weapons over to the police," Mizr said.

The village is now hoping someone from the government will deal with the bodies in the grave.

"We have informed the Mass Graves Exhumation Team and they said they would come to pick them up, but we do not know when they will do that," Mizr added.

Initial information obtained by Rudaw indicates that the grave contains the remains of seven ISIS fighters.

In June 2014, ISIS took control of large areas in northern and western Iraq. Two months later, in August, the group launched a genocidal assault on the Yazidi community in the Shingal district. Whole villages were emptied as Yazidis fled. They have been slow to return because of ongoing instability and a lack of reconstruction.

Link

Iraq

More than a decade on, 2,500 Yazidis still missing after ISIS attack

2025-05-12

[Rudaw] Over a decade after the Islamic State

...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) launched its brutal attack on the Yazidi heartland of Shingal (Sinjar) in northern Iraq, the fate of approximately 2,500 Yazidis remains unknown, a Kurdish official told Rudaw on Sunday, adding that most of the missing are believed to be in Syria.

Hussein Qaidi, head of the Office for Rescuing Abducted Yazidis — affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Presidency — stated that "around 2,500 Yazidis remain missing to this day, the majority of whom are believed to be in Syria, particularly in the northeast [Rojava]."

On Friday, families of the missing staged a rally in Shingal, urging the Iraqi government to press on the new authorities in Syria to help find their loved ones.

Qaidi noted that some of the missing Yazidis are believed to be held in the infamous al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, while others may have been transferred abroad.

The al-Hol Camp located in Syria’s Hasakah province, currently holds over 40,000 people - mainly women and kiddies with alleged or confirmed ties to ISIS. The majority of the camp’s residents are Iraqis and Syrians, and security is maintained by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Since ISIS's territorial defeat in Iraq (2017) and Syria (2019), al-Hol has drawn international concern as a potential breeding ground for extremism.

Qaidi on Sunday added that his office, which functions directly under the Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, has successfully rescued 3,587 Yazidis so far. These include women, men, and children who were kidnapped during ISIS’s 2014 assault on Shingal and surrounding areas.

In June 2014, ISIS seized large parts of northern and western Iraq. Two months later, in August, the group launched a devastating campaign against the Yazidi community in Shingal, abducting 6,417 Yazidi women and kiddies. Many were subjected to sexual slavery and forced labor.

Approximately 200,000 Yazidis were displaced from Shingal during the onslaught, and many remain in displacement camps across the Kurdistan Region, especially in Duhok province.

The United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
has officially recognized ISIS’s crimes against the Yazidis as genocide.

Qaidi confirmed that the rescued Yazidis, though now free, are in dire need of psychological support. He highlighted a 2015 agreement between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the German government, under which around 1,090 survivors were sent to Germany for treatment.

Since then, additional survivors have been sent to Australia, Canada, and the United States for similar assistance. "Those who go abroad for psychological treatment are free to return or stay in those countries, based on their own choice," Qaidi said.

Link

Iraq

Yazidi men freed from ISIS captivity, reunite with families after years of separation

2025-04-28

[Rudaw] The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have rescued two Yazidi men from the grip of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) after years in captivity, an affiliate of the Iraqi labor ministry confirmed to Rudaw on Sunday. This marks the second such rescue by the SDF in under two weeks.

The individuals, identified by Rudaw by their initials D.R. and O.K., were reunited with their families under the supervision of the Yazidi Affairs Office, an affiliate of the Iraqi ministry of labor.

Born in 2003, D.R. is from the village of Kocho (Kojo), while O.K., born in 2006, hails from the village of al-Wardiya. Both villages are located in the predominantly Yazidi district of Shingal (Shingal) in northern Iraq.

In June 2014, ISIS seized control of large swathes of territory in Iraq’s north and west. A little over a month later, in August, the group launched a wide-scale attack against the Yazidi community in Iraq's northern Shingal.

The rescued captives, D.R. and O.K, "were kidnapped by ISIS Lions of Islam in 2014," Sarab Ilias, head of the Yazidis affairs office at the Iraqi ministry of labor told Rudaw on Sunday.

"Unfortunately, during [the military] operations and bombings, D.R. lost a leg and O.K. lost an arm," Ilias explained, adding that the two men were "reunited with their families," who currently reside in Shingal and the Qadiya camp located in the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province.

Notably, this is the second such operation led by the Kurdish-led SDF in less than two weeks.

The SDF in mid-April announced that they had rescued a Yazidi man who had been kidnapped by ISIS around 11 years ago, when he was just eight years old.

The Kurdish-led force then said that its military units carried out a "special security operation" to free the kidnapped Yazidi identified as O.K.

O.K. was quoted by the SDF statement as sharing the harrowing story of his abduction by ISIS.

"I was born in 2006, and I was just a child when ISIS kidnapped me in 2014. ISIS captured me and my family, but separated me and my brother."

He said that he was held in the northern Iraqi city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, which ISIS in 2014 declared as the capital of its proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq. He remained in Mosul for three months before being separated from his brother and transferred, along with 60 other Yazidi children, to the city of Albu Kamal in eastern Syria.

"After arriving in al-Bukamal, ISIS subjected us to a three-year religious indoctrination course. I was given the name ’Osama al-Sinjari.’ Then we were moved to the Syrian desert for another three years of military training," he recounted.

O.K. noted that near the end of 2024 and "while I was getting treatment at one of the ISIS hideouts in the Homs desert, the hideout was struck by an intense ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
<del>Arclight</del> airstrike

...KABOOM!...
from the [US-led] Global Coalition [to Defeat ISIS], which resulted in the death of 20 terrorists, including high-ranking commanders."

"I miraculously survived the bombing," he said, expressing his relief and gratitude toward the SDF for "liberating him and thousands of other Yazidis, particularly women, from the grip of ISIS."

ISIS’s 2014 assault on Shingal resulted in the abduction of 6,417 Yazidi women and kiddies, many of whom were subjected to sexual slavery and forced labor. Despite being territorially defeated in Iraq by 2017 and in Syria by 2019, ISIS continues to pose a security threat in the region.

The United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
has recognized the systematic targeting of the Yazidis as genocide. Up to 200,000 Yazidis were displaced from Shingal, many of whom now live in camps across the Kurdistan Region, particularly in Dohuk province.

As of now, 2,590 Yazidis remain missing, according to the Office of Rescuing Abducted Yazidis, which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Presidency.

Link

Iraq

More than 90 Yazidi families return to Shingal

2025-04-22

[Rudaw] More than 90 Yazidi families have returned to Shingal (Sinjar), their homeland in northern Iraq, the country’s migration ministry announced on Monday.

The Spokesperson for the Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement Ali Jahangir told Rudaw that 92 Yazidi families had returned to Shingal on Sunday, from Chamishko camp in the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province.

In June 2014, the Islamic State

Link

Iraq

SDF rescues Yazidi young man after 11 years in ISIS captivity

2025-04-16

[Rudaw] The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Tuesday that they have rescued a Yazidi man who was kidnapped by the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) around 11 years ago, when he was just eight years old. The individual was taken along with his family during ISIS’s brutal assault on the predominantly Yazidi district of Shingal (Sinjar) in the summer of 2014.

In a statement, the SDF said that its military operations units carried out a "special security operation" on March 12, 2025 to free the kidnapped Yazidi individual.

For privacy reasons, Rudaw has identified the young man only by his initials, O.K.

According to the SDF, the Yazidi man "is originally from the village of al-Wardiya in the Sinjar region, which witnessed large-scale massacres committed by ISIS, and where thousands of men, youth, and elders were killed, and more than 7,000 women and girls were kidnapped." O.K. "was one of the victims of that massacre."

Now 19, O.K. was quoted by the SDF statement as sharing the harrowing story of his abduction by ISIS.

"I was born in 2006, and I was just a child when ISIS kidnapped me in 2014. ISIS captured me and my family, but separated me and my brother."

He said that he was held in the northern Iraqi city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, which ISIS in 2014 declared as the capital of its proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq. He remained in Mosul for three months before being separated from his brother and transferred, along with 60 other Yazidi children, to the city of Albu Kamal in eastern Syria.

"After arriving in al-Bukamal, ISIS subjected us to a three-year religious indoctrination course. I was given the name ’Osama al-Sinjari.’ Then we were moved to the Syrian desert for another three years of military training," he recounted.

Following that, he was sent to the Homs desert in western Syria, where he served as an ISIS fighter for four years. During this time, he sustained a landmine injury to his right leg.

O.K. noted that near the end of 2024 and "while I was getting treatment at one of the ISIS hideouts in the Homs desert, the hideout was struck by an intense ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
<del>Arclight</del> airstrike

...KABOOM!...
from the [US-led] Global Coalition [to Defeat ISIS], which resulted in the death of 20 terrorists, including high-ranking commanders."

"I miraculously survived the bombing," he said, expressing his relief and gratitude toward the SDF for "liberating him and thousands of other Yazidis, particularly women, from the grip of ISIS."

During its 2014 assault on Shingal, ISIS kidnapped 6,417 Yazidi women and kiddies, many of whom were subjected to sexual slavery and forced labor. Although the group was territorially defeated in Iraq by 2017 and in Syria by 2019, it continues to pose a security threat in the region.

As of now, 2,590 Yazidis remain missing, according to the Office of Rescuing Abducted Yazidis, which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Presidency.

Link

Iraq

Iraqi army arrests five after clashes with PKK-affiliated group in Shingal

2025-03-21

I’m very confused.

[Rudaw] Iraqi security forces on Wednesday said they arrested five individuals following an overnight skirmish between the Iraqi army and armed individuals affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the predominantly Yazidi district of Shingal (Sinjar).

A statement from the Iraqi Security Media Cell said that a "group of outlaws in two vehicles kidnapped a citizen in Sinjar district [north of Iraq] and took him to another location." In response, Iraqi army forces, Shingal police, and other security units "pursued the vehicles, completely surrounding the area."

During the operation, the kidnappers "threw a hand grenade at one of the security forces’ vehicles," causing "minor injuries to four security personnel." Security forces "managed to wound two of the kidnappers - one critically - and arrested five suspects involved in the kidnapping." The kidnapped citizen was freed following intense festivities.

The Security Media Cell did not provide details on the motive behind the reported "kidnapping," but the Shingal Resistance® Units (YBS) - a group widely known as an all-Yazidi offshoot of the PKK - claimed in on Wednesday that the Iraqi army targeted one of their vehicles in Shingal, which led to the injury of three of their fighters.

The YBS claimed that the Iraqi forces "ambushed" their fighters, leaving one of them at death's door.

Pro-YBS media on Wednesday reported on the incident and published a video showing YBS supporters trying to protest at the venue of the incident, but were blocked by security forces.

Sherwan Dubardani, a Kurdish politician representing the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Nineveh province, told Rudaw on Wednesday that the YBS had kidnapped a citizen, who is an engineer, and stolen his vehicle.

Dubardani added that security forces pursued the "kidnappers" - who were in two YBS vehicles and attacked the soldiers in defense of one of their members who was accused of stealing the vehicle.

A myriad of gangs are active in Shingal, including those affiliated with the PKK, the Iraqi government, and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

This is not the first time festivities have erupted between the Iraqi army and the YBS, with deadly confrontations occurring in May 2022 over control of the district.

The YBS, formed in 2007, gained prominence after fighting against the Islamic State

Link

Iraq

Kurdish military judge warns against 'desertion' of Yazidi Peshmerga fighters

2025-03-05

[Rudaw] Some members of an all-Yazidi brigade of Peshmerga forces announced on Saturday that they had "resigned" from their brigade and announced their plan to join the Iraqi army. However,
women are made to be loved, not understood...
a Kurdish military judge warned on Sunday that the move is illegal, adding that it could harm Erbil-Baghdad relations.

A representative of the deserted Peshmerga fighters, who were part of the Shingal (Sinjar) brigade - an affiliate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) - on Saturday told journalists in Baghdad that they "resigned" from their military duties "within the borders of the Kurdistan Region" and from "all military and partisan ties binding us" to Erbil. They claimed the move was in rejection of the Kurdistan Region’s policies against the Yazidis and the "exploitation of their suffering for political gains."

Kurdawan Naqshbandi, a Kurdish military court judge, told Rudaw on Sunday that if these Peshmerga fighters answer to Iraq, it would be considered "defection," adding that it will also be a "violation of military discipline."

"If the Iraqi army accepts their defection, it will create a new point of contention with the Kurdistan Region," Naqshbandi warned, urging relevant authorities in Baghdad to handle the situation responsibly.

The Kurdish and Iraqi governments have yet to comment on the matter.

Naqshbandi further clarified that Peshmerga forces joining the Iraqi army without the official approval of Erbil is illegal and that such a move is illegal.

According to the military laws in the Kurdistan Region, those who defect will face trial in the military court under Article 48 of the Military Penal Code.

The brigade claimed that they consist of over a thousand fighters, including high-ranking officers, but their commander told Rudaw that their number is less than 200 fighters and do not include senior officers.

"The number they announced, claiming it to be 1,200 people, has no basis and they are not even 200," Qasim Shasho said. He noted that the brigade consists of around 8,000 members and will continue to fulfill their duty.

Shasho said a number of the deserted fighters have returned to the brigade.

Shasho’s brigade was formed after the Islamic State

Link

Iraq

Nearly 3,000 Yazidis still missing: Official

2025-03-05

[Rudaw] Nearly 3,000 Yazidis kidnapped during the Islamic State

Link

Iraq

Remains of 32 Yazidi victims return to Shingal

2025-02-22

[Rudaw] Following the exhumation process and identification, the remains of 32 Yazidi victims of the Islamic State

Link

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