Islamic State militants freed about 250 Yazidis held captive for more than six months in Iraq, Kurdish officials said Sunday.
Most of those released Saturday were children and the elderly, said the Kurdistan Democratic Party leader, Saman Jabari, CNN reported.
The captives were reportedly transported by militants from the northern town of Tal Afar, where they had been imprisoned since their villages were raided last summer.
Once they were freed, they walked up to a Peshmerga checkpoint southwest of the city of Kirkuk, CNN reported.
Under the care of Kurdish authorities, the Yazidis were transported to camps for internally displaced people in Dohuk, The Telegraph reported.
“We don’t know the exact details of why they were released,” said Hersh Hussiein, a representative of Arbil governorate. “But we have to welcome them and provide all their basic needs including medical treatment.”
Yazidis account for less than 1 percent of Iraq’s population. They are of Kurdish descent, and their religion is considered a pre-Islamic sect that draws from Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism, CNN reported. Sunni militants of the Islamic State group view them as apostates.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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