Islamic insurgents kill at least 500 Yazidis and dump bodies in mass graves

 
Standing guard: Kurdish troops on the outskirts of Sinjar (Picture: Reuters)
Standard Reporter10 August 2014

Iraq militants have killed at least 500 Yazidis and buried them in mass graves across the north of the country, the human rights minister said.

Mohammed Shia al-Sudani accused the Sunni Muslim insurgents of burying some of their victims alive and taking women as slaves.

He said in a telephone interview the killings had come from people who escaped the town of Sinjar, an ancient home of the Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking community whose religion has set them apart from Muslims and other local faiths.

The minister said they regard the community as "devil worshippers" and claim they are forcing people to convert to Islam or die.

"We have striking evidence obtained from Yazidis fleeing Sinjar and some who escaped death, and also crime scene images that show indisputably that the gangs of the Islamic State have executed at least 500 Yazidis after seizing Sinjar," he said.

He added: "Some of the victims, including women and children were buried alive in scattered mass graves in and around Sinjar."

He said there are at least 300 Yazidi women have been taken as saves, with fears they will be taken outside of the counry.

"In some of the images we have obtained there are lines of dead Yazidis who have been shot in the head while the Islamic State fighters cheer and wave their weapons over the corpses," he added.

The US Central Command said drone aircraft and fighter jets had hit Islamic State armed trucks and mortar positions near Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region which had been relatively stable throughout Iraq's years of turmoil until the insurgents swept across the north this summer.

President Barack Obama warned on Saturday that there was no quick fix for the crisis that threatens to tear Iraq apart.

Obama said it would take more than bombs to restore stability, and criticised Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government for failing to share power with Iraq's Sunni minority, which was dominant under Saddam.

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