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Secret SMS texts saved my family from IS

Idriss had to resort to a complex network of smugglers, undercover collaborators and his smartphone to rescue his Yazidi family from IS-controlled territory.

Idriss is a Yazidi farmer whose home in northern Iraq was overrun by fighters from so-called Islamic State. He and the other men from the villages were rounded up, most were shot, and buried in a mass grave. Idriss was one of the few to escape – but his wife and five children were kidnapped and taken to IS territory. He then began a perilous mission – resorting to smugglers and secret text messages – to rescue his family. Along the way, Idriss has tried to help hundreds of other enslaved Yazidi women reunite with their families.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Deiniol Buxton

Image: Yazidi man on his phone
Credit: Getty Images

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19 minutes

Podcast