Sinjar, discovered two mass graves of Yazidis massacred by Islamic State

Inside, the bodies of nine people. The discovery of the area near the village of Umm al Shababik, between Mosul and the Syrian border. Increases to 29 the number of the pits found in the Sinjar area since last year, a total of 1,600 corpses.

 

Baghdad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Two mass graves containing the bodies of members of the Yazidi minority, persecuted by the Islamic State (IS), have been discovered in northern Iraq in the context of the offensive launched on 17 October by the army and by Kurdish Peshmerga. A local official reported that the discovery was made "in the village of Umm al Shababik", in the northwestern region of Sinjar, between Mosul and the Syrian border.

Questioned by AFP, the mayor of Sinjar explains that the two mass graves containing nine bodies each, are about 150 meters apart. Following the "gruesome discovery" adds the official, the number of the pits found in the Sinjar area since last year rises to 29, since the forces fighting IS have taken control of the area.

Sinjar was home to the majority Kurdish speaking Yazidi communities; according to the mayor of the city 1,600 bodies have been found.

Faithful of a pre-Islamic religion, the Yazidi are regarded as heretics by the Islamic State that has reserved particularly cruel treatment for members of the minority. The jihadists have executed men and made women sex slaves.

In March 2015, the UN described the IS assault of the Yazidis an "attempt of genocide." According to community leaders, up to 3 thousand women are still in the hands of the jihadists, often used as sexual objects and sold as slaves among militiaman.

In the past Daesh militias [Arabic acronym for the Islamic State, IS] are guilty of heinous crimes, including mass murder and burial of bodies in mass graves. Since the beginning of the offensive for the recapture of Mosul, the UN has received several reports containing new allegations of atrocities committed by jihadists.

• Iraq mosul Islamic
• state jihad mass
• graves fundamentalism offensive army Kurds Sinjar