Islamic State advances against Yazidis on Iraq’s Mount Sinjar

Islamic State militants advanced on Iraq’s Mount Sinjar on Tuesday, tightening a siege of thousands of stranded Yazidis, who called on the United States and its allies to act to avert more bloodshed.

 

The attack is the latest threat to minority Yazidis, thousands of whom have been shot, buried alive or sold into slavery by Islamic State militants, who regard them as devil-worshippers.

 

The IS militants originally attacked the area around Sinjar, in northwestern Iraq, in August. A renewed assault began at dawn on Monday, when militants driving Humvees and civilian vehicles attacked several Yazidi residential compounds, forcing the Yazidi to retreat up the mountain.

 

“We are outnumbered and outgunned. We don’t know how long we can hold them off,” said Ali Qasem, a Yazidi volunteer on the mountain.

 

Read More: Islamic State advances against Yazidis on Iraq’s Mount Sinjar – Middle East Israel News | Haaretz