The smuggler who took on the ISIS slave trade

Victims of ISIS

As the ‘Islamic State’ swept across Iraq in 2014, they targeted villages around Mount Sinjar, home to the Yazidi community. Encircling the mountain, they killed thousands of Yazidi men and abducted an estimated 5,000 women and children, to be sold at slave markets and through dedicated WhatsApp/Viber groups.

With no help forthcoming, Abu Shuja, a Yazidi smuggler, turned his skills and network against ISIS. Working covertly inside the Caliphate, he began stealing captives back to freedom.

After rescuing over 500 people, Abu Shuja himself became a marked man. ISIS put a $500,000 bounty on his head, putting both him and his family in grave danger.