Islamic State Releases over 200 Captive Yazidis

The Islamic State released more than 200 Yazidis Wednesday who had been held captive for eight months.

The freed captives wept and called out to God as they were greeted by their families.

There was no reason given for the mass release, but Gen. Hiwa Abdullah, a Peshmerga commander, said most of the 216 are in poor health and show signs of abuse and neglect.

About 40 of the released prisoners are children and the rest are elderly, he said.

Thousands of Yazidis fled late last summer when ISIS captured Sinjar in northern Iraq near the border with Syria. According to international rights groups, the jihadists killed thousands of Yazidis and sold many of the women as sex slaves.

"The U.N. concluded that the Yazidi community was systematically targeted and crimes committed against them potentially amount to genocide," Julie Lenarz, executive director of Human Security Center, told Arutz Sheva earlier this week.