May 1 2017

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Yazidis freed after three years of IS captivity in Iraq

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Beirut: Thirty-six members of the Yazidi religious minority have been freed after being held for three years by Islamic State in Iraq, the UN says.

The group of men, women and children have been taken into centres run by the UN in Dohuk in Iraqi Kurdistan. The UN has not said whether IS freed the survivors or if they had managed to escape.

Mass Yazidi grave found after Sinjar ...

Mass Yazidi grave found after Sinjar attack

Kurdish forces uncover a grave believed to contain remains of more than 70 Yazidis in Sinjar town after defeating Islamic State militants in area.

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Mass Yazidi grave found after Sinjar attack

Kurdish forces uncover a grave believed to contain remains of more than 70 Yazidis in Sinjar town after defeating Islamic State militants in area.

In August 2014 IS launched an offensive against the Yazidis in Sinjar, murdering 5000 men and forcing about 7000 women into slavery. It is thought that about 4000 are still in captivity.

Meanwhile, an Iraqi commander expects to dislodge Islamic State from Mosul this month despite resistance from militants in the Old City district, where 400,000 people are thought to have little food and water with no access to hospitals.

The battle should be completed "in a maximum of three weeks", Lieutenant General Othman al-Ghanmi, the Iraqi army's chief of staff, was quoted as saying by a state-run newspaper.

In Syria, US-backed forces made advances against IS on Sunday in the strategic town of Tabqa, clearing the jihadists from six neighbourhoods.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition of Kurdish and Arab militias, claimed to control at least 40 per cent of the town, north of Raqqa, which is the home of Syria's largest dam.

In late March the SDF cut off access to Tabqa after a US-led airdrop allowed them to capture part of the town and establish a controlling presence. Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant still holds several districts along the southern bank of Lake Assad and part of dam itself, but the group has been weakened after a month under siege.

Families have escaped after three years of IS rule in the town.

"People are hungry and tired. Everyone is psychologically shattered, crushed," Ismail Mohamed, 39, said.

The SDF is expected to move south towards Raqqa when it has total control of Tabqa.

Telegraph, London

Yazidis freed after three years of IS captivity in Iraq

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