Kurdish Female Fighters Rescue Yazidi Woman Held Captive by ISIS for 11 Years

Kurdish Female Fighters Rescue Yazidi Woman Held Captive by ISIS for 11 Years
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A 21-year-old Yazidi woman, Riham H., has been rescued after 11 years in captivity by the all-female Kurdish force, the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), in northeast Syria, Rudaw reported. Riham was abducted by ISIS in 2014 during their occupation of Shingal (Sinjar) when she was just 10 years old.

The YPJ announced that Riham was handed over to the Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) and Shingal Women’s Units (YJS) to be reunited with her family. Details about her captivity location were not disclosed. Speaking to Rudaw, Riham expressed overwhelming joy and relief at returning to her family, recalling the threats ISIS made against Yazidis, warning that returning would mean death.

Riham reconnected with her brother Sa’ad, who reached out to the YPJ for help, leading to her liberation. She thanked the YPJ for freeing her after more than a decade in captivity.

The YPJ, the women’s branch of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), is a key part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and is renowned for its fight against ISIS, notably defending Kobane in 2014-2015. The YPJ vows to continue rescuing missing Yazidi women, many of whom were abducted during ISIS’s 2014 assault on Shingal. Of the 6,417 Yazidi women and children taken, nearly 2,600 remain missing. Despite territorial defeats in Iraq and Syria, ISIS remains a regional security threat.