Yezidi amputee reunites with family after years of ISIS captivity in Syria

DUHOK, Kurdistan Region - Sofia Rashid, 18, a Yezidi who had been held captive by ISIS for more three years and had to have one of his legs amputated after a bombardment on the city of Deir ez-Zor in Syria, just two months before he reunited with family members, says he is looking to start a new life and going back to school.

 

Rashid reunited with family members ten days ago. 

His emotions sway between worry and grief about what he has experienced and joy to be back with his family.

“They forcibly converted us to Islam. They only gave us half a loaf of bread to eat in Tal Afar school," Rashid recounted. "They took us to a military base where they trained us and taught us lessons. Then they took us to Syria where they bombarded us with multiple rockets."

He went on to add "When I returned I only recognized some members of my family at first, such as my uncles and father. I didn’t recognize others."

A constant stream of visitors comes to see Sofian.  Some inquire about his health and others ask about their relatives still held by ISIS. Today, some relatives from Khanik have come to see him.

“We are really very happy to receive him alive," Alyas Haji, Sofian’s uncle, told Rudaw. "Thanks be to God, he came back alive. This made us happy, but we are very concerned for his lost leg. But thanks be to God, he was in pain due to inflammation in his leg, but we treated him in Duhok at Baroshki emergency hospital.”

He visits Duhok hospitals on a daily basis to receive treatment. When he was injured under ISIS control, he did not receive proper medical attention at primitive ISIS hospitals.

“His leg injury is clean now after we operated. But he now needs further treatment and medicine," said Farman Abdullah, a physician. 

According to official reports released by YAZDA, a Yezidi rights group in September, nearly 7,000 Yezidi men, women and children were abducted in the first days of ISIS’ attack on Shingal in August 2014.

The reports stated that more than 1,600 women and girls and 1,200 men and boys still remain unaccounted for.