More than 200 Yazidi prisoners have been set free in northern Iraq after nearly a year in Islamic State captivity , Kurdish military has said today . The freed prisoners said that they had been led to believe they were being led to their execution , but instead , were piled onto a minibus that drove them to peshmerga positions . The Yazidis , made up of women , children and the elderly , are said to be in poor health and bearing signs of abuse and neglect . Fear : The 216 prisoners , including 40 children , believed they were being led to their execution , but instead , were piled onto minibuses that drove them to a handover southwest of Kirkuk . Released : An elderly man is being cared for by peshmerga troops while a young girl cries as she is being offered water by a Kuridsh soldier after their release . Relief : A newly released Yazidi woman reacts upon her arrival in the village of Himera , southwest of Kirkuk , after she and hundreds of other Yazidis had been held captive since last summer . Praise be : Two elderly women give thanks for being set free . Some of the Yazidis are said to be in poor health and bearing signs of abuse and neglect . Free at last : A mother hugs here young child in celebration at being released . The freed Yazidis were taken away by ambulances and buses to receive treatment and care . Saved : This elderly Yazidi woman was one of the lucky ones to be released . No reason was given for the decision by ISIS . The 216 prisoners have been held captive in the Islamic State since last summer when militants attacked their villages in the area around Sinjar in northwestern Iraq . General Hiwa Abdullah , a peshmerga commander in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk , said that about 40 children are among those released , while the rest were elderly , some of whom were too exhausted and disoriented to speak . No reason was given for the release of the prisoners , which took place in Himera just southwest of Kirkuk , 180 miles north of Baghdad . The freed Yazidis were taken away by ambulances and buses to receive treatment and care . One elderly woman said she had been captured by the . insurgents last August when they overpowered Kurdish forces in . the Sinjar area and proceeded to purge its Yazidi population , . killing hundreds and taking thousands captive . Emotional scenes : Once the Yazidi prisoners , made up of women , children and the elderly , realised they were not being executed but freed , many broke down by the roadside . Newly released members of the Yazidi minority , including one girl with an injured leg , wait for medical help after being set free by ISIS . Saved : An officer from the Kurdish forces carries an elderly Yazidi woman at the checkpoint in near Kirkuk . A woman splashes her face with water given out by a Kurdish peshmerga soldier . The 216 Yazidis piled onto a minibus that then drove them to peshmerga positions . Yazidi families embrace after ISIS let them go . About 40 children were among those released . A man shields his face from the hot sun . Yazidi community leaders were there to receive the freed women , children , elderly and disabled and an ambulance was on standby . The woman , who asked not to be named , said she had told her . son and two young daughters to run away as the militants closed . in , but stayed behind herself because she was unwell and did not . want to slow them down . ' I had lost hope of seeing my children again , but today it . has happened , ' she said as they embraced her and wept . It was not clear why the radical jihadists had decided to . release the Yazidis , whom they consider devil-worshippers , but . the group previously freed 200 more it was holding under . similarly mysterious circumstances . Yazidi activists say many remain in the hands of Islamic State , which has often subjected women to rape or sexual slavery . Iraqi Yazidis are seen at the entrance of a checkpoint in Kirkuk after their release by the Islamic State militants near Kirkuk , northern Iraq . The 216 prisoners have been held captive in the Islamic State since last summer when militants attacked their villages in the area around Sinjar in northwestern Iraq . The United Nations said last month that the Islamic State may have committed genocide against the minority . Some of the Yazidis said they had been held in the Islamic . State stronghold of Tel Afar most of the time , but in the days . leading up to their release , they were moved from one town to . another in Islamic State 's self-proclaimed caliphate . Yazidi community leaders were . there to receive them and an ambulance was on standby . Yazidi activists say many remain in the hands of Islamic . State , which has often subjected women to rape or sexual . slavery . The United Nations said last month that the Islamic State may . have committed genocide against the minority . The Yazidis are an ancient , predominantly Kurdish people who . follow their own religion derived from Islam , Christianity and . Zoroastrianism .
Group released in northern minibus made up of 40 children , women and elderly . Were piled onto a Iraq that then drove them to peshmerga positions . Prisoners spent nearly a year in Isis captivity , Kurdish military has said . No explanation has been given as to why the 216 Yazidis were released .