Teenaged Yezidi girls escape ISIS but succumb to landmines
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The bodies of two Yezidi girls who were reportedly killed by a landmine while escaping the Islamic State in Kirkuk on March 14, still remain in a field that separates Peshmerga frontlines from ISIS positions in the area.
Relatives of the two victims told Rudaw they had asked the Kurdish authorities for assistance to collect the bodies which apparently remained in a minefield that was within the reach of ISIS sniper fire.
“If they allow us we could go there and take the bodies of our girls,” said Saeed Kocho, the uncle of one of the victims.
Kocho said they had already been in touch with the Peshmerga commanders in the area and received assurances that the relatives would be provided protection to collect the bodies.
Katrin Ilias, 20, Almas Khalaf, 11 and Lamia Haji, 19 escaped ISIS captivity earlier this month. But only Lamia survived the tragic mine explosion that instantly killed the other two girls.
Army officials in Iraq say that ISIS militants have over the past years acquired expertise in planting landmines and explosives around and in the areas that they control in order to block potential outside offensives to retake the areas.
Saeed said his niece had called their family only the night before they escaped the militants and told them that she and her friends would soon reach Peshmerga positions in the area.
But instead of reunion, Saeed said he received a call from security in Kirkuk who told him to collect the cellphone of his niece, apparently taken to the police by Lamia.
“They just told me that she had been killed by a landmine,” Saeed said.
He said around 20 of his close relatives had been killed or abducted by the militants but “losing Katrin was more devastating than losing everything because she was so close to being free,” he told Rudaw, choking on his tears.
At the mourning ceremony for Katrin, Rudaw also met Nadiya Murad, a Yezidi activist and a relative of the unfortunate girl.
“It was devastating for all of us to see Katrin being killed so tragically,” Nadiya told Rudaw. “I wished we could see her among us again.”
Lamia Haji who escaped the explosion unharmed has reunited with her family after she was abducted in August 2014 in her village of Kocho near the Yezidi town of Shingal.
It has been increasingly difficult to produce an accurate data about the number of abducted and assaulted Yezidi women, often due to the sensitivity of the cases with victims unwilling to share their horrific experiences.
But according to a government office, which was set up in the Kurdistan Region to help locate and bring back the abducted Yezidis, of the 6,255 people who were kidnapped, 3,878 are still in ISIS captivity, with nearly 1,800 of them being women and children.
The Yezidi lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament, Vian Dakhil, told Rudaw in December that nearly 5,820 Yezidis are still held captive, while 2,200 have been rescued or have escaped captivity.
Relatives of the two victims told Rudaw they had asked the Kurdish authorities for assistance to collect the bodies which apparently remained in a minefield that was within the reach of ISIS sniper fire.
“If they allow us we could go there and take the bodies of our girls,” said Saeed Kocho, the uncle of one of the victims.
Kocho said they had already been in touch with the Peshmerga commanders in the area and received assurances that the relatives would be provided protection to collect the bodies.
Katrin Ilias, 20, Almas Khalaf, 11 and Lamia Haji, 19 escaped ISIS captivity earlier this month. But only Lamia survived the tragic mine explosion that instantly killed the other two girls.
Army officials in Iraq say that ISIS militants have over the past years acquired expertise in planting landmines and explosives around and in the areas that they control in order to block potential outside offensives to retake the areas.
Saeed said his niece had called their family only the night before they escaped the militants and told them that she and her friends would soon reach Peshmerga positions in the area.
But instead of reunion, Saeed said he received a call from security in Kirkuk who told him to collect the cellphone of his niece, apparently taken to the police by Lamia.
“They just told me that she had been killed by a landmine,” Saeed said.
He said around 20 of his close relatives had been killed or abducted by the militants but “losing Katrin was more devastating than losing everything because she was so close to being free,” he told Rudaw, choking on his tears.
At the mourning ceremony for Katrin, Rudaw also met Nadiya Murad, a Yezidi activist and a relative of the unfortunate girl.
“It was devastating for all of us to see Katrin being killed so tragically,” Nadiya told Rudaw. “I wished we could see her among us again.”
Lamia Haji who escaped the explosion unharmed has reunited with her family after she was abducted in August 2014 in her village of Kocho near the Yezidi town of Shingal.
It has been increasingly difficult to produce an accurate data about the number of abducted and assaulted Yezidi women, often due to the sensitivity of the cases with victims unwilling to share their horrific experiences.
But according to a government office, which was set up in the Kurdistan Region to help locate and bring back the abducted Yezidis, of the 6,255 people who were kidnapped, 3,878 are still in ISIS captivity, with nearly 1,800 of them being women and children.
The Yezidi lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament, Vian Dakhil, told Rudaw in December that nearly 5,820 Yezidis are still held captive, while 2,200 have been rescued or have escaped captivity.