Islamic State group releases over 200 captive Iraqi Yazidis [View all]

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By SAMEER N. YACOUB

BAGHDAD (AP) — The Islamic State group released more than 200 Yazidis on Wednesday after holding them for eight months, the latest mass release of captives by the extremists targeted by U.S.-led airstrikes and an Iraqi ground offensive.

Gen. Hiwa Abdullah, a peshmerga commander in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, said most of the freed 216 prisoners were in poor health and bore signs of abuse and neglect. He added that about 40 children are among those released, while the rest were elderly.

No reason was given for the release of the prisoners who were originally abducted from the area around Sinjar in the country's north. The handover took place in Himera just southwest of Kirkuk, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad.

The freed captives wept and called out to God when greeted by their families, some so weak they lay on the arid ground. Women wiped away tears with their long headscarves.

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A Yazidi, right, released by Islamic State group militants arrives in Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, April 8, 2015. The Islamic State group released more than 200 Yazidis on Wednesday after holding them for eight months, an Iraqi Kurdish security official said, the latest mass release of captives by the extremists. (AP Photo)

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