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Escaped IS Prisoner Talks to VOA Kurdish


In an interview with VOA’s Kurdish service, 21-year old Nadia Murad, an Iraqi woman held captive and tortured by IS in 2014, spoke on the importance of stopping the terror group from harming any more Yazidis.

Nadia, a Yazidi herself, was abused and raped by members of Islamic State while being held prisoner for three months. Luckily, she was able to escape, but the horrors and gruesome recollections remain for the young woman. Since her escape, Murad has been living in Germany, encouraging that more is done to stop ISIS. In December, she testified before the United Nations Security Council on the plight of the Yazidi people in Iraq.

During the interview on VOA Kurdish flagship TV program, Kurd Connection, Murad said, “What I have been asking is to stop ISIS and other terrorist groups and to end the atrocities against minorities and to guarantee their rights. The entire world is witnessing what is happening to the minorities and what is happening against thousands of girls and children. It is important to make sure that this is not repeated again.”

The interview aired on VOA affiliate NRT TV in Northern Iraq. VOA Kurdish reporter Dakhil Shammo, who conducted the interview with Murad, said, “Nadia’s story is one that provides a voice for all the other Yazidis who are still being held captive. We are grateful to Nadia for sharing her story with us.”

VOA’s Kurdish Service reaches its audience on radio, television and the Internet. In addition to shortwave and AM, the programs are broadcast by FM affiliates in several cities in Iraq and target more than 30 million Kurds living in the Middle East and Eurasia and the approximately one million Kurds in Europe and North America. Broadcasts are popular among listeners in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, with over a quarter of the Kurds tuning in at least once a week.

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