Iraqis rally to free abducted Turkmen women in Syria

By Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD (AA) – Scores of women staged a rally in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province on Tuesday to call for government intervention to release Turkmen women kidnapped by the Daesh/ISIS terror group in Syria.

Protesters gathered outside the headquarters of the Human Rights Commission in Kirkuk, waving banners demanding the release of the abducted Turkmen women.

They urged the Iraqi government and the US-led coalition against Daesh/ISIS to launch a military operation in Syria to free the Turkmen abductees.

On Sunday, Iraqi lawmaker Arshad al-Salahi said around 400 Turkmen women are held in captivity by the Daesh/ISIS terror group in Syria.

The women were abducted by the terror group between 2014 and 2017, when the group controlled vast areas of Iraq before being defeated by the Iraqi forces in 2017.

Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara