Detailing the casualties of the Kurdish forces in the war against ISIS Barzani on Tuesday hailed the Peshmerga and their sacrifices which in turn made the Kurdistan Region a safe haven for millions of displaced people of all religious and ethnic backgrounds.
To push back ISIS from the borders of the Kurdistan Region and later liberate all occupied areas the Peshmerga lost 1,745 lives and sustained 10,069 injuries.
Kurdish military officials report that 30,000 square-kilometers has been liberated since mid-2014.
Barzani who headed a delegation to Europe on the topic of Erbil's plan for an independence referendum in September said that the Kurdistan Region has sheltered 1.4 million Iraqi IDPs and 233,000 Syrian refugees.
He added that some small numbers have since started returning to their liberated areas.
The last known abduction of a Peshmerga by ISIS happened in late May when ISIS militants attacked the Peshmerga lines in Tuz Khurmatu south of Kirkuk, capturing Sayyed Omar, 39.
Omar, a Peshmerga with 14 years of service, was expecting to be home with his wife and children for the end of Ramadan holidays only days later.
In March 2015, ISIS released a video showing at least 18 Peshmerga inside a cage on public display in Hawija. The video sparked outrage from the victims’ families and on the streets in Kurdistan. More than 70 friends and relatives of the hostages staged a protest in Kirkuk, calling on the Kurdistan Regional Government to take immediate action.
A Peshmerga official told Rudaw then that they were trying to have a prisoner exchange with ISIS, but nothing matriculated.
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