Islamic State Releases 200 Yazidi Captives In Iraq

The Islamic State terror group recently released 200 Yazidi hostages that it had been holding for several months in Iraq. 

According to Kurdish military forces, the terror organization released the 200 prisoners near the city of Alton Kupri in Iraq. The majority of the prisoners were elderly, with three of the prisoners being children.

The Associated Press reports that several of the prisoners were in poor health and were likely holding the terrorist group back. Many of the released prisoners showed signs of abuse and neglect.

Gen. Shirko Fatih, commander of Kurdish military forces in Kirkuk, told the Associated Press that most likely the hostages became too much of a burden to the Islamic State militants due to their declining health and old age.

"It probably became too expensive to feed them and care for them," he said.

Khodr Domli, a rights activist for the Yazidi minority, added to the Agence Free Presse that several of the Yazidi hostages were disabled in one way or another.

"These men and women had been held in Mosul," Domli told the AFP. "Some are wounded, some have disabilities and many are suffering from mental and psychological problems."

According to Reuters, thousands of Yazidis were attacked last summer in the northwestern area of Iraq, with hundreds being killed or enslaved by the terror organization.

Officials close to the situation report that although often times the Islamic State will keep hostages to use as leverage in future situations, the group probably released the 200 Yazidi hostages because they were becoming too great of a burden to the extremists.