ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Yazidi woman and a child were rescued by Kurdish forces in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Thursday, ending a decade of captivity just days before the tenth anniversary of the Islamic State (ISIS) attack on the Yazidi heartland of Shingal. 

Azize Khalil, 25, is from Shingal’s Kocho village. She raised Khunav, who was only two months old when she was kidnapped by ISIS when the group attacked Shingal in 2014. The two were rescued from the notorious al-Hol camp in Hasaka province, the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), an all-woman force, said in a statement.

A third Yazidi mentioned by the YPJ in their statement is 24-year-old Tawaf Dawoud Chato from Gir Uzer village in Shingal. The YPJ said they captured her on the Syria-Iraq border when she was trying to escape ISIS. When interrogated by the Kurdish force, she revealed her Yazidi identity.

Chato’s freedom from ISIS captivity has previously been reported.  

Hussein Qaidi, head of the Yazidi rescue office, affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Presidency, told Rudaw in June that Chato “arrived in Iraq from Western Kurdistan [Rojava] today.” 

He said that Iraqi security forces were keeping her until she returned to her hometown, Shingal. 

When ISIS swept through the Yazidi heartland of Shingal in August 2014, committing genocide, the group abducted 6,417 women and children who were forced into sexual slavery and labour. Many have been rescued from al-Hol that houses tens of thousands of ISIS families and supporters. 

According to data provided by Qaidi’s office, at least 3,576 of the abducted Yazidis have been rescued so far. 

Amnesty International said in a report on Wednesday that Yazidi survivors of ISIS atrocities have been abandoned to indefinite detention at al-Hol camp.

“The Yezidi community suffered unthinkable harm at the hands of Islamic State. Ten years after IS first launched its attack against the Yezidis, their suffering continues today, as thousands remain missing,” said Lauren Aarons, Amnesty International’s senior adviser on gender, conflict and international justice.

“Many Yezidis who were mistakenly swept up following the collapse of IS have been languishing in indefinite detention in dire and life-threatening conditions in north-east Syria. These Yezidis must now be identified, freed and provided with the ongoing support they need,” she added.