Return of Yazidis
The Islamic State group has released at least 200 Yazidis after five
months of captivity in Iraq.
Islamic State fighters transported the freed Yazidis by bus to Hawaija,
55 kilometers southwest of Kirkuk, and from there they took cars to the Khaled
Bureau District some 25 kilometers away where they entered Kirkuk.
Officials said almost all of those released Saturday were elderly or
sick, including several children, and nearly all bore signs of abuse and neglect.
Gen. Shirko Fatih, commander of Kurdish peshmerga forces in the northern
Iraqi city of Kirkuk, said it appears the militants released the prisoners
because they were too much of a burden.
'It probably became too expensive to feed them and care for them,'he
told The Associated Press.
Islamic State fighters attacked the Yazidis in August, forcing thousands
of them to flee to Sinjar mountain.
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