ICC Note: The Yazidi community is rejoicing at the return of a young woman who was captured by ISIS in 2014. She was captured along with her two children, but returned only with her son. While her arrival brings much joy, it is also a reminder of the thousands of other women belonging to religious minority groups who remain in captivity. Their fate is unknown. The kidnapping by ISIS of Yazidi and Christian women has left a significant scar on these communities which will affect them for years to come.   

06/10/2018 Iraq (Rudaw) – The heartache of one Yezidi family was eased with the return of Bahar, finally freed after more than three years in ISIS captivity.

“Since the day she was captured, I have been waiting. I did not rest. Thanks to Allah, I am very happy today that my wife returned,” her husband told Rudaw.

Bahar was 25 years old when ISIS captured her on August 3, 2014. She was married and had two children – a boy and a girl. ISIS took her seven-year-old daughter. She came back with her son.

She is the 3302nd Yezidi freed from ISIS, according to KRG records. The fate of more than 3,000 Yezidis is still unknown.

Four of Bahar’s sisters are among those still missing and the search for them continues.

“Hopefully others return too and no one remains a captive of ISIS,” said their father, Khalid Ali.

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