Shingal, Iraq – After the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS), also known as ISIS, has taken dozens of Yezidi hostages and demanded ransom, Yezidis are currently raising money in order to free the hostages. At the end of June more than 24 Yezidis were held hostage by IS terrorists which demanded a ransom of 50.000 U.S. dollars  per hostage. Amnesty International reports consistently about kidnappings of Yezidis conducted by the outlaw terrorist group that has already captured large parts of Iraqi and Syrian territory.

However, the abductees´ families are not able to pay such a high sum. Shingal is one of the poorest regions of Iraq. At least 23 of the kidnapped Yezidis are still in the hands of IS.
In the meantime, the Yezidis´ temproal  leader, Mir Tahsin, has arranged in consultation with the Religious Council an emergency aid of 24 million Iraqi dinars (about 15,000 euro) to support the families of the victims. More dozens of Yezidis, mainly from Europe, have already donated several thousand euros to the affected families.

An propaganda video published by IS shows some Iraqi border guards which have been captured and executed shortly afterwards, among them several Yezidis. In Mosul, houses of Christians and Shiites have been recently tagged by Islamists after the prompt to leave the region within the next 24 hours.

Ezidipress