Saudi authorities have succeeded in returning two young siblings home after their father abducted them to join the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) in Syria, al-Arabiya reported Sunday (March 31st).
The kidnapping of Saudi citizens Abdullah and Ahmed took place five years ago, under the pretense that they were going on holiday to Turkey, from where they were then taken to Syria. A month after their arrival, the father handed his children to ISIS and proceeded to commit a suicide bomb attack.
The return of Abdullah, 16, and Ahmed, 13, to their hometown of Riyadh was made possible thanks to a strategic and dangerous mission by Saudi authorities who helped them escape from Syria to Turkey.
"If you are in Saudi Arabia, you are in bliss, safety, and comfort. You are in God’s mercy," said Abdullah as he expressed his relief to be back home.
Pointing at his younger brother’s eye, he said: "Ahmed does not see with this eye."
Ahmed injured his eye in a blast in the last few days he spent in Syria.
"We experienced an attack that caused a piece of metal to cut my eye. They [ISIS] did not treat it; they just sewed it up and told me to go," he said.
The mother of the kidnapped boys warned other parents to keep an eye on their children and take note of any odd behavior because "if you remain silent, you are causing them more harm than good", she said.
Al-Arabiya captured the moment Abdullah and Ahmed reunited with their family at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The entire family was present to receive the children, in a reunion mixed with joy and pain.
