Kurdish officials: Peshmerga to exchange prisoners with ISIL

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Recent ISIL video of caged Peshmerga being paraded through a militant-held village has ramped up efforts of the Kurdistan Regional Government to negotiate prisoner exchanges.

Kurdish parliamentarian Dler Mawati, who serves as deputy chief of the Committee of Peshmerga Martyrs and Genocide Sacrifices Affairs, said an estimated 50 Peshmerga have been captured by ISIL with a larger number taken prisoner by Kurdish forces.

Malawati said the Kurdistan Regional Government is ready to free those Peshmarga in ISIL captivity by exchanging hostages with the militants.

“We intensified our attempts to free the hostages when ISIL showed the Peshmerga in caged procession on the streets of Hawijja. We now have two options: either to pay money to free our hostages or by exchanging ISIL hostages,” he said.

Mawati added that the Kurdistan Regional Government is ready to even exchange by ISIL captives taken in Kobane.