During a special security operation conducted by our forces on March 12, 2025, our SDF’s Military Operations Teams (TOL) managed to free a young Yazidi man who had been captured along with his family by ISIS militants during their brutal attack on Sinjar/Shingal on August 3, 2014.
Our forces succeeded in rescuing the kidnapped Yazidi man, “Othman Khairu Khodi Da,” from the grip of the terrorist organization after more than eleven years of his abduction. Othman is originally from the village of “Al-Wardiya” in the Sinjar region, which witnessed large-scale massacres committed by ISIS, where thousands of men, youth, and elders were killed, and more than seven thousand women and girls were abducted. Othman was one of the victims of that massacre.
Othman recounts his abduction, stating: “I was born in 2006, and I was just a child when ISIS kidnapped me in 2014. After being captured with my family, ISIS separated me and my brother from our family.” He confirms that he stayed in the Iraqi city of Mosul for three months before being separated from his brother. ISIS then sent him, along with sixty other Yazidi children, to the city of Al-Bukamal in Syria.
Describing his time within the terrorist group, Othman explains, “After arriving in Al-Bukamal, ISIS subjected us to a three-year religious course, during which I was given the name ‘Osama Al-Sinjari.’ We were then transferred to the Syrian desert to undergo military training, where we remained for another three years. I was later moved to the Homs desert as a fighter in the ISIS ranks, and I stayed there for another four years. During this period, I was injured by a landmine explosion, which wounded my right leg.”
The liberated Othman further adds, “At the end of 2024, while I was getting treatment at one of the ISIS hideouts in the Homs desert, the hideout was struck by an intense airstrike from the international coalition forces, resulted in the death of 20 terrorists, including high-ranking leaders, and I miraculously survived the bombing.”
In closing, Othman expressed his joy at being freed and conveyed his gratitude to the Syrian Democratic Forces for liberating him and thousands of other Yazidis, particularly women, from the clutches of ISIS.
The fate of thousands of Yazidis, especially women, remains unknown. Many were sold in slave markets established by ISIS in cities such as Raqqa, Mosul, Deir Ezzor, and Al-Bukamal. However, our forces have successfully liberated thousands of them, reuniting them to their families in Sinjar/Shingal.
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