DHAKA: A mass evacuation of Yazidis hiding from extremist fighters on Iraq's Sinjar Mountains is unlikely following an assessment by the U.S. State Department and military that found far fewer people trapped than previously feared.

Once believed to be in the tens of thousands, the number of Yazidis in the mountains is "now in the low thousands," Brett McGurk, a deputy assistant secretary of state, told CNN on Wednesday.

The news broke the same day a senior commander with the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, claimed ISIS fighters abducted more than 100 Yazidi women and children from Sinjar.

The ISIS commander, who has knowledge of the events that unfolded, said the fighters killed a large number of men when they took over the town more than a week ago.

"At that time, they took Yazidi women and children, and I can confirm those women and children have entered Mosul," the commander said by telephone. "...The Islamic State is taking this opportunity to call them to Islam."

Source: CNN

BDST: 0928 HRS, AUG 14, 2014