Yazidi women recount ISIS captivity: They raped children as young as 4 and 9

Yazidi survivor Suad Hamid, who was held captive by ISIS in Iraq, recounted in an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya and Al Hadath, how ISIS members kidnapped and raped children as young as four and nine.

Hamid described the fear that she and her companions endured when they fell into the clutches of ISIS members. She recounted how she and her sister endured two harrowing weeks in their captivity.

Hamid, her eyes brimming with tears as she recollected the emotional turmoil of her past, revealed that an ISIS member named Abu Mohammed had forcibly abducted her cousins and other girls. Since that day, she has been unable to reunite with her sister, she said.

Hamid also shed light on the treatment endured by Yazidi female captives at the hands of the wives of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. She revealed that the wives of ISIS leaders engaged in a disturbing competition, vying to sell the captives for the highest possible price.

Hamid disclosed that an ISIS leader ultimately sold her to her uncle, forcing her family to pay a $40,000 ransom for her and her brother’s release, allowing them to reunite with their family.

A series of exclusive interviews conducted by Al Arabiya and Al Hadath channels with the wives and daughter of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi sparked mixed reactions, notably inciting anger from some Yazidi survivors who had endured captivity under ISIS. These survivors were particularly outraged by the claims made by al-Baghdadi’s wives, asserting that they were treated well during their captivity.

In response, Al Arabiya and Al Hadath channels organized special interviews with Yazidi survivors, providing them with a platform to share their experiences and offer their perspectives in response to the assertions made by al-Baghdadi’s wives.

Another Yazidi survivor, Rosita Hajji, recounted to Al Arabiya her harrowing experience of being raped by ISIS leader Abu Julaybib when she was barely 12 years old. With tears streaming down her face, she stressed that it was Abu Julaybib’s wife who instructed him to rape her.

Hajji also stressed that her young age prevented her from understanding and being aware of what was going on around her, leaving the traumatic experience etched in her memory. She said she was raped multiple times.

Another Yazidi survivor, Adiba Murad, shared with Al Arabiya her haunting experiences of abuse at the hands of ISIS. She highlighted that the wives of ISIS members were often more brutal than the men.

Murad revealed that the wife of ISIS member Abu Salah al-Maghribi actively helped her husband in committing acts of rape against her.

Washington announced in October 2019 that US troops had killed ISIS leader al-Baghdadi in an operation in northwestern Syria, around five years after he proclaimed an Islamic “caliphate” which he and his fighters ruled with brutality across much of Iraq and neighboring Syria.

US-backed forces defeated ISIS in Iraq in 2017, and two years later in Syria. But remnants of the group continue to attack civilians and security forces in both countries.