NEW YORK -- A senior United Nations official said the Islamic State is circulating a slave price list for captured women and children.
The official, Zainab Bangura, said that during an April trip to Iraq she was given a copy of an Islamic State pamphlet, which included the list, showing that captured children as young as a year old fetch the highest price. The bidders include the group's own fighters and wealthy Middle Easterners.
The list surfaced about eight months ago though its authenticity came under question. Bangura, the U.N. special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, said she has verified that the document came from Islamic State and reflects real transactions.
"The girls get peddled like barrels of petrol," she said in a recent interview in New York. "One girl can be sold and bought by five or six different men. Sometimes these fighters sell the girls back to their families for thousands of dollars of ransom."
For Islamic State fighters, the prices in Iraqi dinars for boys and girls ages 1 to 9 equal about $165, Bangura said. Prices for adolescent girls are $124, less for women over 20.
The militia's leaders take those they wish first, then rich outsiders from the region are permitted to bid thousands of dollars, Bangura said. Those remaining are then offered to the group's fighters for the listed prices.
A Section on 08/05/2015