Kidnapped By ISIS At The Age Of 11, Yazidi Women Successfully Released After A Decade Of Ditawan

ISIS illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/VOA)

JAKARTA - A Yazidi woman who was kidnapped by ISIS from Iraq in 2014 at the age of 11, was rescued through surgery for about four months and reunited with her family.

In a statement, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said the woman Fawzia Amin Sido was released through joint efforts "with high coordination" with the US Embassy in Baghdad and Amman and Jordanian authorities, quoted from The Times of Israel October 3.

The release operation that took place in Gaza this week, led by the United States, and involved Israel, Jordan and Iraq, officials said, quoted by Reuters.

The operation also involved Israelis, Jordanians and Iraq, officials said.

He was released after more than four months of attempts involving several failed attempts due to the difficult security situation caused by the Israeli military offensive in Gaza, Silwan Sinjaree, Iraq's Foreign Minister's chief of staff, told Reuters.

Iraqi officials have been in contact with the woman for months and submitted the information to US officials, who arranged for the woman to leave Gaza with the help of Israel, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Officials did not provide details on how exactly he was eventually released, while Jordanian and US Embassy officials in Baghdad did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Fawzia, a Yazidi girl kidnapped by ISIS from Iraq and brought to Gaza at just 11 years old, has finally been rescued by the Israeli security forces.

For years, she was held captive by a Palestinian Hamas-ISIS member.

She has now been reunited with her family. Her story is a… pic.twitter.com/nkVotqYdov

— David Saranga (@DavidSaranga) October 3, 2024

Fawzia, a Yazidi girl kidnapped by ISIS from Iraq and brought to Gaza at just 11 years old, has finally been released by the Israeli security force.

For years, she was held captive by a Palestinian Hamas-ISIS member.

She has now been reunited with her family. Her story is a... pic.twitter.com/nkVotqYdov

A State Department spokesman said the United States on October 1 "helped evacuate a young woman Yazidi from Gaza safely to reunite with her family in Iraq."

The spokesman said he was kidnapped from his home in Iraq at the age of 11 and sold and traded to Gaza. His client was recently killed, so he could escape and seek repatriation, the spokesman said.

Sinjaree said he was in good physical condition but traumatized by his time in captivity and by the terrible humanitarian situation in Gaza. Since then he has reunited with his family in northern Iraq, he added.

Separately, Director of the Digital Diplomacy Bureau of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs David Sarana wrote on X, "Fawzia, a Yazidi girl kidnapped by ISIS from Iraq and taken to Gaza at the age of 11, was finally rescued by Israeli security forces."

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

It is known, Suku Yazidi is a Kurdish language group from northern Iraq.

The Islamic State extremist group attacked the Yazidi fort in Sinjar in August 2014, killing more than 1,200 people, according to local authorities.

More than 6,000 Yazidi residents were arrested by ISIS militants from the Sinjar region of Iraq in 2014, many were sold as sex slaves or trained as child soldiers and brought across the border, including to Turkey and Syria.

Over the years, more than 3,500 people have been rescued or released, according to Iraqi authorities, with about 2,600 people still missing.

Many are feared to be killed but activist Yazidi said they believe hundreds of people are still alive.