ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani condemned the barbarity of ISIS and promised to help refugees in a speech delivered Monday to honor the one-year anniversary of the Shingal Massacre in which thousands of Kurdish Yezidis were exeecuted or kidnapped.

“Shingal is a deep wound in the body of the Kurdish nation,” said Barzani, who sent on to describe the attacks on Yezidis as "barbaric."

“The abduction of Yezidi women and girls is a deep wound, too," he said.

The prime minister said the Kurdistan Regional Government takes pride in the resilience of the Yezidi people and is seeking ways to rescue those who remain in ISIS captivity.

"Fortunately, many of them were rescued and we will continue to free the remaining ones,” Barzani said.

Barzani praised Peshmerga victories in the fight against ISIS and said the battle for the Yezidi homeland is far from over.

"I am very optimistic that we can liberate Shingal soon,” he said.

Barzani pointed out that nearly 1.7 million refugees and IDPs have flooded into the Kurdistan region, boosting the population by 29 percent.

The KRG premier applauded the people of Kurdistan, especially in Duhok province, who have opened their doors for the refugees.

“We will do whatever we can to help refugees in the Kurdistan region," he said.

Also on Monday, Mahma Khalil, a former Iraqi MP and the current commander of the Peshmerga forces on Mount Shingal, told reporters that during last year's ISIS attack 5,000 Yezidi women and girls were captured and 1,900 of those had been liberated as of now.

Khalil also estimated that more than 6,000 Yezidis are still missing. He said that 11 mass graves containing Yezdis had been uncovered in sub-districts of the Shingal town.

“Yezidis constitute 20 percent of all the refugees across in Iraq,” he said.

Rudaw