A viral image circulating on social media allegedly shows Yazidi girls being paraded by ISIS. The image features young women dressed in white inside a cage on a vehicle and is accompanied by claims that it depicts “19 Yazidi girls in Mosul who refused to convert to Islam” before their execution. However, verification reveals this image comes from a different event and has been presented incorrectly.
Social Media Posts
A viral image shared across social media platforms shows a group of young women dressed in white garments inside a large cage on a vehicle. Posts widely claim that the picture depicts “19 Yazidi girls in Mosul who refused to convert to Islam, paraded around the city by ISIS before being burned alive in a cage.”
Fact Check
Reverse image search confirms that this photo is not from Iraq and has no connection to Yazidis or ISIS atrocities. The picture was actually taken in Egypt in December 2013, during a protest in Abu El Matamir, Beheira Governorate.
According to Shorouk News, the demonstration was organized by female students affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, who staged a symbolic protest in support of the ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. The women dressed in white clothing, placed themselves inside a makeshift iron cage mounted on a vehicle, and carried yellow Rabaa banners, a symbol of solidarity with pro-Morsi protesters.
The march began at Sheikh Khaled Mosque to protest the imprisonment of the “7 am girls”; young female demonstrators who had received 11-year prison sentences. The protest highlighted opposition to the harsh government crackdowns that followed Morsi’s removal from power. This symbolic demonstration has no connection whatsoever to ISIS or its atrocities against Yazidis.
The Claim About Yazidi Girls
While ISIS committed atrocities against the Yazidi community in Iraq, including killings, abductions, forced conversions, and sexual enslavement, these actions have been recognized as genocide by international organizations, as documented in the UN report on Yazidi genocide. Many Yazidi women and girls were captured and subjected to horrific abuse.
As for the specific claim that 19 Yazidi women were burned alive in cages in Mosul for refusing to become sex slaves, this story began spreading in 2016. News outlets like NDTV and The Independent published articles about this incident based on local activist reports. However, there’s a crucial problem: these reports have never been independently verified. No photos, videos, or confirmed eyewitness accounts exist, and no major human rights organizations have been able to confirm this specific incident happened.
Even government officials expressed uncertainty about these reports. During a UK House of Lords session, officials acknowledged they had heard these reports but could not verify them independently. So while ISIS’s brutal campaign against Yazidis is well-documented, this particular story about 19 women burned alive remains unverified and should be approached with caution.
Conclusion
The viral image circulating on social media does NOT show Yazidi girls being paraded by ISIS. This image actually shows Egyptian female protesters from 2013 who were staging a symbolic demonstration in support of ousted president Morsi. While ISIS did commit horrific atrocities against the Yazidi community, this specific image and the accompanying narrative are false and misleading.
Title:Viral image does not show Yazidi girls paraded in Mosul before being burned alive
Fact Check By: Cielito WangResult: Misleading
