Thirty-six members of the Yazidi religious minority are free after nearly three years in the hands of the Islamic State militant group (IS), the UN says.
Iraqi Yezidis gather to celebrate Yezidi New Year, known as Chwarshaba Sor or Red Wednesday, in Dohuk on 18 April this year. Photo: AFP
They have been taken to UN centres in Dohuk in Kurdish northern Iraq.
It is unclear whether they escaped in Iraq or were freed, as the UN declined to give more information to avoid jeopardising future releases.
IS killed and enslaved thousands of Yazidis after seizing the northern town of Sinjar in 2014.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces regained control in 2015 but many Yazidis were held captive by IS elsewhere as the group took over large swathes of northern Iraq.
The 36 survivors include men, women and children who were enslaved, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
They reached Dohuk two nights ago where they are being housed in centres established by the UN Population Fund.
There, they are being reunited with family members and offered care including clothing and medical and psychological aid, the UN said.
The women and children are being cared for at dedicated service points set up by the UNPF, and will be referred for more specialised treatment.
The UNFP's humanitarian co-ordinator for Iraq, Lise Grande, said the UN was going to do "everything possible" for the rescued Yazidi.
"What these women and girls have endured is unimaginable," she said.
Who are the Yazidis?
- A centuries-old religious sect found in northern Iraq, Syria and the Caucasus
- The religion incorporates elements of many faiths, including Zoroastrianism
- Yazidis revere the Bible and Koran, but much of their tradition is oral
- Principal divine figure, Malak Taus (Peacock Angel), is the supreme angel of the seven angels who ruled the universe after it was created by God
- Many Muslims and other groups incorrectly view Yazidis as devil worshippers
- There are estimated to be about 500,000 Yazidis worldwide, most living in Iraq's Nineveh plains
- In August 2007 jihadists attacked Yazidi villages in Nineveh, killing between 400 and 700 people
The UN - which has accused IS of committing genocide against the Yazidi - estimates that 1500 women and girls are still being held and could be suffering protracted sexual abuse.
A UN report released last year said the extremists had subjected captured Yazidis to the "most horrific of atrocities", killing or enslaving thousands. The report warned that IS aimed to completely erase their way of life.
In March, lawyer Amal Clooney urged the UN to back a UK-led investigation into the crimes committed by IS.
IS has been under increasing pressure in Iraq, losing much of the territory it seized in 2014.
Iraqi forces have recaptured most the city of Mosul from IS, but they are still trying to push the group out of the Old City district in the west.
- BBC