WUNRN
IRAQ – HORRIFIC UPDATE OF KILLINGS BY ISIS OF YAZEDI
MINORITY WOMEN & CHILDREN – MASS GRAVE – CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
Yazidis fleeing the Sinjar region in northern Iraq following an ISIS offensive. (Photo: Reuters)in northern Iraq following an ISIS offensive. (Reuters)
Staff
Writer, Al Arabiya News - 2 February 2015
Iraqi
Kurdish forces have uncovered a mass grave containing the remains of about 25
members of the Yazidi minority believed to have been killed by the militants of
the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), local officials have said.
“Peshmerga forces discovered a mass grave yesterday (Sunday) containing the
remains of about 25 people -- men, children and women -- from the Yazidi (sect)
who were killed by” ISIS, Myaser Haji Saleh, a local official responsible for
the Sinjar area, told AFP.
A
peshmerga lieutenant colonel said the grave was found near Sinuni during a
search for explosives that ISIS often leaves behind, posing a threat to
security forces and civilians even after they withdraw.
“Our forces were searching for explosives and mines planted by (ISIS) in the
area and found the grave during the search,” the officer said.
Some of the victims had been shot dead and others “slaughtered” using knives,
he said.
ISIS
militants reportedly killed hundreds
of members of Iraq's Yazidi ethnic minority during their offensive in the north
of the country.
The
militant group had also buried alive some of their victims, including women and
children, Iraq's human rights minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani had said. He
added that almost 300 women were kidnapped as slaves.
The
Yazidis, followers of an ancient religion derived from Zoroastrianism, are
spread over northern Iraq and are part of the country's Kurdish minority.