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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Yazidi man will be repatriated to his hometown of Shingal (Sinjar) in the coming days, nearly 11 years after being kidnapped by the Islamic State (ISIS), an informed source told Rudaw on Thursday.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the source said that the 18-year-old Rawand N.H. was freed eight days ago in a 20-day operation. He is currently in the Kurdish-held northeast Syria (Rojava) and is expected to be reunited with family on Sunday.
He was freed in Syria's Idlib province. It remains unclear who was involved in the operation.
From Rawand's family, 77 people were kidnapped by ISIS, of whom 38 have been freed so far, according to the source.
During its 2014 assault on Shingal, ISIS abducted 6,417 Yazidi women and children, many of whom were subjected to sexual slavery and forced labor. Although the group was territorially defeated in Iraq by 2017 and in Syria by 2019, it continues to pose a security threat in the region.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced in April that they had rescued another Yazidi man.
As of now, nearly 2,600 Yazidis remain missing, according to the Office of Rescuing Abducted Yazidis, which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
Nahro Mohammed contributed to this article.
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