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Authorities in northern Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region say a teenage Swedish girl who was being held by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) militants has been rescued in a raid by Iraqi Kurdish special forces.
A statement issued by officials in Iraq’s Kurdish region on Feb. 23 said the 16-year-old girl had travelled from Sweden to Syria in 2015 and then crossed the border into Iraq.
The statement said the girl was rescued on Feb. 17 near the ISIL militants’ stronghold of Mosul by forces from the region’s counterterrorism department.
It also said the girl was “misled” into making the journey to Syria and then Mosul by an ISIL member in Sweden.
The statement said it had been called upon by Swedish authorities and members of her family to assist in locating and rescuing her from the ISIL group.
There was no immediate confirmation of the incident from the Swedish authorities.
Kurdish special forces in Iraq rescue Swedish girl from ISIL added by World Tribune on
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