IRAQ: Iraq's displaced Yazidis are sheltering in the Kurdish north after fleeing their homes and villages to escape the advance of Islamic State militants

Record ID: 274613

  • Title: IRAQ: Iraq's displaced Yazidis are sheltering in the Kurdish north after fleeing their homes and villages to escape the advance of Islamic State militants
  • Date: 11th August 2014
  • Summary: ARBIL, IRAQ (AUGUST 10, 2014) (REUTERS) YAZIDI COMMUNAL LEADER JAHWAR ALI BEK SITTING DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) YAZIDI COMMUNITY LEADER, JAHWAR ALI BEK, SAYING: "Currently, 400,000 Yazidis are displaced. They are from Sinjar, from Shekhan, from Basheqa and al-Qush. There are currently 80,000 people besieged on Sinjar Mountain and their situation is critical.
  • Embargoed: 26th August 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Conflict,People
  • Reuters ID: LVAL11QF0JK3W2GRTNV5QFEZWJS
  • Story Text: Thousands of Iraq's Yazidis are sheltering in makeshift accommodation in the country's Kurdish region, after having fled the advance of Islamic State fighters.
    The Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, has prompted tens of thousands of Yazidis and Christians to flee for their lives during their push to within a 30-minute drive of the Kurdish regional capital Arbil.
    Several families have taken refuge in a half-constructed building in Dohuk.
    They say they fled their homes after coming under attack.

    "They used RPG rockets, mortars and BKC weapons. We didn't have enough ammunition so we were forced to flee to the mountain. Children died, the elderly died, we hardly managed to evacuate that elderly man. They took the girls and the women," said Dahem Mohammed.
    On Sunday, Iraq's human rights minister said Islamic State militants had killed at least 500 members of Iraq's Yazidi ethnic minority during their offensive in the north of the country.
    He said the Sunni militants had also buried alive some of their victims, including women and children. Some 300 women were kidnapped as slaves, he added.
    Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled for their lives after Kurdish fighters abandoned them in the face of Islamic State militants, and are trapped on a mountain near Sinjar at risk of starvation.
    Community leader Jahwar Ali Bek said it was a desperate situation.

    "Currently, 400,000 Yazidis are displaced. They are from Sinjar, from Shekhan, from Basheqa and al-Qush. There are currently 80,000 people besieged on Sinjar Mountain and their situation is critical. They have no food, no water and their situation is difficult and all of them are besieged on the mountain," he said.
    Sinjar is the ancient home of the Yazidis, one of the towns captured by the Sunni militants who view the community as "devil worshipers" and tell them to convert to Islam or face death.
    The Yazidis, followers of an ancient religion derived from Zoroastrianism, are spread over northern Iraq and are part of the country's Kurdish minority.
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