Kurds Help Rescue Swedish Teen from ISIS-Controlled Territory in Iraq

Kurdish fighters have rescued a Swedish teenager in Iraq, officials said.

The Kurdistan Regional Security Council released a statement revealing that Special Forces conducted a raid on Feb. 17 in an Islamic State controlled territory by the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. In the raid, they safely rescued the teenager, who the Swedish news outlet has identified as 16-year-old Marilyn Nevalainen. Nevalainen had traveled to the Syria from the city of Boras last summer.

"She was misled by an ISIL member in Sweden to travel to Syria and later to Mosul," the Kurdish statement said. ISIL is another term for the terrorist group, which is also known as ISIS. "She will be transferred to Swedish authorities to return home once necessary arrangements are put in place."

The officials added that the raid was conducted upon the girl's family and Sweden's request for aid. Since the rescue operation, Nevalainen has received medical attention and will be debriefed by Iraq Kurdish authorities.

The United States, who work closely with Kurdish fighters mostly as advisors in the war against ISIS, were not involved in this raid.

The circumstances regarding how the girl ended up in Iraq and what she was doing in the Middle East are unclear due to several conflicting stories. One report claimed that Nevalainen traveled to Syria with her boyfriend, who was training with a militant group. ISIS reportedly captured them. Another report said she was pregnant and had given birth in Syria.

Sweden's security agency reported, via the Washington Post that an estimated 300 Swedes have joined different extremist groups mainly in Iraq and Syria in recent years.