Yazidis in Sinjar mark 4 years since start of IS attack on their community

Описание: (3 Aug 2018) Yazidis in the Iraqi city of Sinjar marked the fourth anniversary of the Islamic State group's attack on their community.
On 3 August, 2014, Islamic State group militants swept into Sinjar, the ancestral homeland of the Yazidis near the Syrian border, after capturing the northern city of Mosul and declaring an Islamic caliphate in large areas of Iraq and neighbouring Syria.
Tens of thousands of Yazidis escaped to Mount Sinjar, where most were eventually rescued by US-backed Kurdish forces.
Yazda, a US-based Yazidi rights group, says around 7-thousand women and girls were captured and sold into slavery, with nearly half eventually escaping.
In the village of Kocho alone, at least 500 men and boys were killed, and 800 women and girls taken away, the group says.
The United Nations and many governments have said that the massacre of the Yazidis amounts to genocide.
Yazidis are a religious minority who live mainly in northern Iraq.
Because of their traditional beliefs, a mix of Islam, Christianity and Zoroastrianism, IS labelled them heretics.
Iraqi and Kurdish forces have since retaken their areas but because of the destruction and a lack of public services, most have been unable to return.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...