A younger hostage kidnapped by ISIS terrorists at age 11 after which held by Hamas for a decade has been rescued by Israeli forces in Gaza after a months-long operation led by the US, officers mentioned Thursday.
Fawzia Amin Sido, 21, was freed earlier this week, with footage displaying her being embraced tightly by her emotional household quickly after touching again down in her native Iraq.
“Fawzia, a Yazidi lady kidnapped by ISIS from Iraq and delivered to Gaza at simply 11 years previous, has lastly been rescued by the Israeli safety forces,” tweeted David Saranga, the director of the digital diplomacy bureau at Israel’s international ministry.
“For years, she was held captive by a Palestinian Hamas-ISIS member. She has now been reunited together with her household.
“Her story is a reminder of the brutality confronted by Yazidi kids, taken with out a selection,” he wrote of the greater than 6,000 Yazidis captured by ISIS in 2014, together with many bought into sexual slavery or educated as youngster troopers.
The freed hostage was in good bodily situation — however traumatized by her prolonged time in captivity, Iraqi officers mentioned.
Sido had been snatched from her dwelling again in 2014 when Islamic State jihadists have been finishing up terror assaults on Yazidi communities throughout the nation.
The younger lady was shortly bought off and trafficked to Gaza, the place she was held captive for the following 10 years.
Iraqi officers had been involved with the lady for a number of months earlier than this week’s rescue efforts — and had handed on her data to US officers, sources informed Reuters.
A number of prior makes an attempt to rescue Sido over the previous 4 months had failed on account of ongoing safety threats due to the Israel-Hamas struggle in Gaza, Iraqi officers mentioned.
It wasn’t instantly clear precisely how she was launched.
A State Division spokesperson solely mentioned Sido’s captor had not too long ago been killed, which allowed her to hunt repatriation.
The rescue operation additionally concerned Israel, Jordan and Iraq, in line with officers.
Of the greater than 6,000 Yazidis captured by ISIS in Iraq in 2014, roughly 3,500 have been rescued or freed within the years since.
Nevertheless, Iraqi officers estimate some 2,600 are nonetheless lacking — with many feared lifeless.
With Submit wires
