UN calls on forces to free Yezidi captives

NEW YORK: The UN’s human rights inquiry into Syria yesterday called on countries fighting Islamic State to rescue Yezidi captives still missing three years after being taken by the extremist militia group.

As the offensive on al-Raqqa intensifies, Islamic State fighters were reportedly trying to sell enslaved Yezidi women and girls before attempting to flee Syria, the commission said.

Thousands of men and boys are missing, and 3 000 women and girls from the northern Iraqi religious community are still being subjected to brutal treatment including rape and beatings on a daily basis.

Some women and girls are being held in the city of alRaqqa itself. The Syrian city is the de facto capital of the Islamic State’s self-styled caliphate.

The UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday it was concerned about the safety of thousands of civilians trapped inside al-Raqqa.

The commission urged coalition forces to use all means available to ensure Yezidi captives are set free during ongoing military operations.

Thousands of Yezidis were seized by Islamic State when it overran Iraq’s town of Sinjar in August 2014. Sinjar was regained from Islamic State in late 2015. Thirty mass graves of Yezidis have since been found in the town.

The radical Sunni militia Islamic State considers the Yezidi people, who practise an ancient faith, to be devil worshippers. The Yezidi community is primarily made up of ethnic Kurds. – ANA-DPA