SDF rescues Yazidi man kidnapped by ISIS

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish security forces in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Saturday announced they rescued a Yazidi man from the clutches of the Islamic State (ISIS), ending over a decade of captivity.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) identified the rescued man as 20-year-old Diyar Ali Raffo, a Yazidi from the village of Kocho in the Shingal area of northern Iraq, who was abducted by ISIS in 2014.

“During a special operation conducted by our SDF’s military operations teams (TOL) in the city of Manbij, Diyar was located and freed from a house. An ISIS terrorist cell was attempting to smuggle him to Turkish-occupied areas,” the SDF said in a statement.

“Diyar sustained injuries during an ISIS hideout bombing,” it added, but did not detail the extent of his wounds.

In a video published by the SDF, Raffo, who had no obvious recent injuries, said that he was forced to join ISIS ranks during his captivity.

“ISIS subjected us to their religious indoctrination and forced military training. Those aged 14 and older were compelled to join their ranks,” he said.

When ISIS swept through the Yazidi heartland of Shingal in August 2014, committing genocide, the group abducted 6,417 women and children who were forced into sexual slavery and labor. 

At least 3,581 Yazidis have been rescued, Hussein Qaidi, from the Yazidi Rescue Office, announced in a press conference earlier this month after a 26-year-old Yazidi woman was freed from ISIS captivity and reunited with her family.

Many have been rescued from al-Hol, the notorious camp that houses tens of thousands of ISIS families and supporters. Others have been found in areas of Syria controlled by rebels or Turkish-backed armed groups, and some have been located in third countries.

While ISIS was declared territorially defeated in 2019, it continues to pose serious security risks through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, especially across the vast expanses of the Syrian desert as well as several Iraqi provinces.