ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A 26-year-old Yazidi woman taken into captivity by the Islamic State (ISIS) ten years ago reunited with her family, the Yazidi Rescue Office announced on Tuesday.
Asia Kamal was only 16 years old when the militants took her to an unknown location in Iraq before she was transferred to Syria, only to be enslaved for six years and then taken to a neighboring country where she was found and rescued.
Asia’s father Kamal Chato burst into tears as he embraced his rescued daughter in their Yazidi hometown of Shingal (Sinjar) in Nineveh province.
"I was never expecting to see my father again," Asia told Rudaw, beaming joyfully.
Asia was found in an undisclosed third country with the help of the Office for Rescuing Abducted Yazidis, which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
"As we promised, we will continue to investigate the whereabouts of the abductees. Mr. [Kurdistan Region President] Nechirvan Barzani's instruction is to investigate the matter as long as there is any abductee left,” Hussein Qaidi, head of the office, said on Tuesday in a press conference.
The office did not disclose Asia’s last location where she was found for security concerns as efforts to rescue more kidnapped Yazidis are ongoing.
ISIS kidnaped her along with thousands of other women and girls during the militants' ruthless assault on Shingal in 2014 when they seized control of large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria in a brazen offensive.
"I'm very grateful to God that I saw my daughter again. I pray all the remaining girls to be rescued," said Asia’s father Kamal.
At least 30 people from Kamal’s family fell into the clutches of ISIS, Qaidi said, adding that 28 of them have been rescued.
ISIS overran Shingal town and surrounding areas in 2014, abducting 6,417 women and children, forcing a large number of them into sexual slavery and labor.
While the group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 and 2019, respectively, it still continues to pose serious security risks through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, especially across the vast expanses of the Syrian desert as well as several Iraqi provinces.
3,581 Yazidis have been rescued, while 2,590 people are still missing, according to Qaidi.