Kovan, a Yazidi woman, tells of 9 year horror as an ISIS slave- and of her rescue by Rojava Women’s Army (YPJ)

from thefreeonline by ANHA on 7 Feb 2024 in Hasakah

The young Yazidi woman who was kidnapped by ISIS mercenaries and who the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) managed to free from al-Hol Camp on Sunday said that ISIS gave her the choice between converting to the Islamic religion and being killed, and she recounted the torture, slavery and rape she was exposed to over the course of 9 years.

On Sunday (February 4), the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) were able to finally rescue a young Yazidi woman from al-Hol Camp as part of the third phase of the “Security and Humanitarian” operation launched by the Internal Security Forces pf the Rojava Revolution with the support of the Syrian Democratic Forces on January 27 of last year.

Yazidi Women’s Union: we owe to fighters’ sacrifices.6 Feb 2024 “We affirm that we, in the Yazidi Women’s Union in Rojava, will remain alongside our fighters and support their resistance and efforts in all places.

The young Yazidi woman, called “Kovan Eido Khorto,” is now 24 years old, from the village of Hardan in Şengal(Sinjar, Southern Kurdistan in northern Iraq).. She and her family, consisting of her father, mother, 4 sisters, and the village’s people, were kidnapped by ISIS mercenaries while they were trying to flee from the mercenaries in 2014.

Kovan was 14 years old when she was kidnapped by ISIS. She was taken with the other kidnappers to an area near the Syrian border, and was held in a school for 9 days.

Identifying the Yazidi Genocide

After 9 days had passed, ISIS mercenaries separated the children and young women from their families. They transferred the young women, after dividing them into groups, to different areas of Iraq, while Kovan and a number of other young women were transferred to Mosul and then to Tal Afar.

While speaking to ANHA agency, Kovan indicated that she was raped by an ISIS mercenary called “Muwafaq,” and he took her to his family’s home in Tal Afar, then handed her over to another mercenary who took her to Mosul.

Sinjar massacre.. Mass genocide and kidnapping carried out by ISIS

The Sinjar massacre marked the beginning of the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL, the killing and abduction of thousands of Yazidi men, women and children. It took place in August 2014 in Sinjar city and Sinjar District in Iraq’s Nineveh Governorate and was perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, vowing to kill them all as infidels. Wikipedia. As Iraq and the US looked on the Kurdish PKK guerillas intervened and saved the Yazidis from genocide to the mountains, but 1000’s of women were taken as slaves.

After Mosul, two other mercenaries nicknamed “Abu Dunia and Abu Abd” transported her to Salah al-Din Governorate, where the mercenary “Abu Dunia and his family” hides.

Live.. Pro-Palestine Strikers already blocking main roads in Barcelona/Catalonia before dawn

from thefreeonline on 7th Feb 2024

Work stoppages, rallies and a demonstration have also been called for this Wednesday afternoon

Strike on February 7 for Palestine: partial stoppages are called in Catalonia
Entities in solidarity with the Palestinian people are also calling several demonstrations in Barcelona and other parts of Catalonia, coinciding with the partial strike
Queralt Gómez Cuberes Wednesday, February 7, 2024, at 08.53

Work stoppage and demonstrations

Apart from these first protests, the unions Confederació General del Treball de Catalunya (CGT-anarcosyndicalist) and the Intersindical Alternativa de Catalunya (IAC) have called partial work stoppages of two hours, from 12 to 2 p.m

Around midday several rallies are called at 12 pm and 12.30 pm, and at 6 pm a demonstration has been called in Parc del Clot.

Since the early hours of the morning, Barcelona has experienced the first mobilizations this Wednesday in a day of protests in solidarity with Palestine to call for an end to the attacks in Gaza.

Since a quarter past eight in the morning and for approximately half an hour, the demonstrators have blocked traffic in three points of the city: on Avinguda Meridiana, at Sarajevo bridge, towards the center of the city; on the Gran Via, at the height of Carrer del Moianès, in both directions , and at the Traversera de Dalt, also in both directions..

In a statement, the CGT of Catalonia has assured that the strike aims to denounce the “situation of impoverishment to which the working class is subjected” and the worsening living conditions of workers due to the wars. In this sense, the CGT denounces the “massacre of the state of Israel” in the Gaza Strip and demands an end to this genocide.