ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A 12-year-old Iraqi boy kidnapped by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014 as an infant was returned to his family, the Iraqi Embassy in Ankara announced on Monday, three years after he was found in Turkey. 

Ali Ghazi Mohammed Jamil, a 12-year-old boy, was kidnapped by ISIS in 2014 after the militants killed his parents. He was “later found in Turkey in 2022, after years of being missing, and was placed in a children's home in Ankara, under the supervision of the official Turkish authorities,” the embassy said in a statement. 

He underwent DNA testing, which proved his relation to his uncle, and was returned after over two years of diplomatic efforts, the embassy added, as part of a broader effort by Baghdad in search of abductees. 

“From the moment the information reached the embassy, ​​it closely followed the case and initiated security and legal coordination procedures with the relevant Turkish authorities, which resulted in confirming the child's identity and initiating the necessary procedures for his return,” the Embassy said.

ISIS took over large swathes of Iraq and Syrian territory in 2014, announcing its so-called “caliphate” with the Iraqi northern city of Mosul as its capital. The group, widely designated as a terrorist organization, was territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017, with assistance from US-led coalition forces.

Despite its territorial defeat, ISIS militants continue to pose a security threat in Iraq through sporadic hit-and-run operations and attacks on remote areas. Iraqi forces, in cooperation with Kurdish forces, have intensified their efforts to eliminate these remnants.