Yazidi woman freed from Gaza in US-led operation after decade in captivity

A 21-year-old woman kidnapped by Islamic State militants in Iraq more than a decade ago was freed from Gaza this week in an operation led by the United States and involving Jordan and the Baghdad government, Iraqi and U.S. officials said.

The woman is a member of the ancient Yazidi religious minority, primarily found in Iraq and Syria, which saw more than 5,000 members killed and thousands more kidnapped in a 2014 campaign that the U.N. has said constituted genocide.

She was freed after more than four months of efforts that involved several attempts that failed due to the difficult security situation resulting from Israel's offensive in Gaza, Silwan Sinjaree, chief of staff of Iraq's foreign minister, told Reuters.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said the United States on Oct. 1 "helped to safely evacuate from Gaza, a young Yezidi woman to be reunited with her family in Iraq."

She was kidnapped from her home in Iraq at the age of 11 and sold and trafficked to Gaza. Her captor was recently killed, allowing her to escape and seek repatriation, the Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee added.