IS releases 200 Yazidi captives in Iraq

Baghdad: The Islamic State (IS) militant group released about 200 elderly members of the Iraqi Yazidi religious minority in northern Iraq, media reported.

The members, who had been held for months were released by IS in Kirkuk, 250 km north of Baghdad Saturday, Xinhua reported citing a Kurdish source.

The source added that these people were housed in a health centre in Kirkuk, and "many doctors and volunteers come to provide medical care at the center".

Early in August 2014, IS captured the town of Sinjar, killing and kidnapping hundreds of Yazidis.

The security situation in Iraq began to drastically deteriorate from June 10, when bloody clashes broke out between the Iraqi security forces and the IS, an Al Qaeda offshoot.