New Yazidi mass grave found in Nineveh, with more than 1000 relics
Representational photo.
Sinjar mayor Mahma Khalil said the grave contained relics of 1646 people, raising the total of Yazidi mass graves discovered in the region since November 2015 until January 2016 to 31.
Khalil predicted the number of graves to increase further to 50.
Kurdish Peshmerga troops took over Sinjar from the Islamic State in August 2014, two months after IS declared an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria.
Thousands of Yazidi Kurds fled Sanjar, a Mosul region on the borders with Syria, to nearby mountain areas following its fall to Islamic State militants in August 2014. The extremist group massacred, enslaved and tortured thousands of that ethno-religious minority.
Data from March revealed that 2915 Yazidis were rescued from Islamic State captivity, including nearly 1500 children, while more than 3500 were still in the extremist group’s hold, including more than 1700 women.
The Kurdish-speaking community came to the spotlight when Islamic State militants, taking over large parts of Iraq, victimized its members, committing massacres and subjecting them to forced conversions, sexual slavery and other reported atrocities. Their dilemma prompted international calls for intervention for their protection.