Islamic State Releases Over 200 Yazidi Hostages, Including Christians

The Islamic State terrorist group reportedly released over 200 elderly and sick Yazidi hostages this week after kidnapping them nearly a year ago.

The 216 hostages, which included two Christians, were released to Kurdish forces near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Wednesday. Many were said to be disoriented and had to receive medical attention after being put in the care of Kurdish forces.

Rassol Omar, a commander in the Peshmerga force, told CNN that most of the hostages released were women and children, while the others were elderly and sick.

The Yazidis had been kidnapped by the Islamic State from several northwestern villages in Iraq last summer. In January, the terrorist group freed 250 Yazidis who had also been kidnapped the previous summer.

The Yazidis released last January also consisted mainly of women, children, and the elderly.

Since their release, Yazidis have expressed joy that they were freed by the Islamic State, rather than executed or taken to one of the terrorist group's strongholds in Syria or Raqqa.

"We are very happy now," Mahmoud Haji, one of the released Yazidis, told the Associated Press. "We were worried that they were taking us to Syria and Raqqa," where it would have been more difficult to be freed due to the large Islamic State presence. 

Another released Yazidi, who chose to remain anonymous, told Reuters that she thought she would never be able to see her children again when she was kidnapped.

"I had lost hope of seeing my children again, but today it has happened," she told the media outlet.