Yazidis

Iraq's Yazidis call for autonomy as conflict flares between army, PKK affiliates

Ongoing tensions due to regional interference to settle scores among rivals threaten new acts of violence, menacing the Yazidi minority concentrated in the area.

Saman Dawod | Iraq | Mar 18, 2021

Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community, who fled violence between Islamic State (IS) group jihadists and peshmerga fighters in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar, sit in a field near a camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) in the Sharya area some 15 kilometers from the northern Iraqi city of Dahuk on May 20, 2015.

Online ‘auctions’ of Yazidi captives speak of ongoing Islamic State activity in Turkey

The rescue of a 7-year-old Yazidi captive in Ankara raises questions about how hard Turkey is trying to tackle Islamic State militants in the country.

Fehim Tastekin | Iraq | Mar 5, 2021

Yazidis refugees carry their belongings on January 3, 2017 in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey as they change their refugee camp and move to Midyat, further south.
The population of Yazidis reaches 700,000, the majority residing in northern Iraq where persecution from Islamic State jihadists led to as many as 40,000 Yazidis fleeing their ancestral homes to the Sinjar Mountains in northwestern Iraq, where they were trapped without food or water. / AFP / ILYAS AKENGIN (Photo credit should read ILYAS AKE

Iraq mourns the first set of remains of Yazidi genocide victims

More than six years after the massacre, before their burial in Sinjar on Feb. 4, Iraqis held a funeral for Yazidis who were murdered en masse by the Islamic State in 2014.

Mirza Dinnayi | Iraq | Feb 4, 2021

Neglected Yazidi mass graves finally exhumed in Iraq

Six months after the exhumation of the last Yazidi mass graves, those of the Yazidi mothers are being exhumed in Sinjar, which contain over 80 mass graves.

Saman Dawod | Originals | Oct 30, 2020

Staff at Iraqi forensics lab Medico-Legal Directorate in eastern Baghdad inspect samples on June 19, 2019. - The bones, recently exhumed from mass graves in the Yazidi stronghold of Sinjar in northwest Iraq, will be compared with blood samples from surviving members of the community to help determine the fates of those still missing after the Islamic State group's 2014 sweep across their villages. Entire families were massacred, boys recruited to fight and women and girls forced into "sex slavery" in what t

Yazidis react to Sinjar accord amid growing KRG-PKK tensions in Iraq

A security agreement reached earlier this month between the Iraqi central government and the Kurdistan Region on the disputed territory of Sinjar has sparked both praise and criticism as tensions rise between the KRG and the PKK.

Shelly Kittleson | Iraq | Oct 27, 2020

A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) carries an automatic rifle on a road in the Qandil Mountains, the PKK headquarters in northern Iraq, on June 22, 2018. - Hundreds of Iraqi Kurds marched Friday to protest Turkish strikes against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara would press an operation against its bases. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Yazidi students achieve highest marks in Iraq entrance exams to universities

Despite difficulties in refugee camps, Yazidi students achieved the highest marks on the entrance exams to Iraqi universities.

Saman Dawod | Iraq | Oct 13, 2020

Yazidi spiritual leader Baba Sheikh dies at 87

Nobel laureate Nadia Murad described him as "a beacon of light."

Al-Monitor Staff | Iraq | Oct 2, 2020

Iraqi Yazidis burn incense during the funeral of Baba Sheikh Khurto Hajji Ismail (image), supreme spiritual leader of the Yazidi religious minority, in the Iraqi town of Sheikhan, 50km northeast of Mosul, on October 2, 2020. - Iraq's Yazidi minority laid to rest their spiritual leader today as tributes poured in for the man who guided his flock through the horrors of Islamic State group occupation.
Baba Sheikh Khurto Hajji Ismail died late yesterday at the age of 87, his office said. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED /

Iraqi Kurdistan president carries conciliatory message from Baghdad to Ankara

Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani carried a conciliatory message from Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to Ankara.

Amberin Zaman | Iraq | Sep 8, 2020

President of the Kurdistan Regional government (IKRG) President Nechirvan Barzani speaks during a bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Six years after Yazidi massacre, US urged to take 'bolder action'

Iraq's Yazidis say the threat from the Islamic State and other extremist groups is preventing them from returning home.

Elizabeth Hagedorn | Iraq | Aug 3, 2020

Yazidis still negotiating return of kidnapped women, children

In the absence of local and international authorities, the Yazidis continue buying back their kidnapped women and children.

Saman Dawod | Iraq | Jun 19, 2020

Iraqi Yazidis take part in a religious ceremony at the Temple of Lalish, in a valley near the Kurdish city of Dohuk, about 430km northwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, on October 10, 2019. - Of the 550,000 Yazidis in Iraq before the Islamic State (IS) group invaded their region in 2014, around 100,000 have emigrated abroad and 360,000 remain internally displaced. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED / AFP) (Photo by SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Reports: Children among the dead after Syrian rebels clash in Turkish-held Afrin

Clashes between Syrian rebel groups in the northern city of Afrin left at least two children dead Thursday.

Al-Monitor Staff | Syria | May 29, 2020

Iraqi series produced by Saudi Arabia sparks controversy

Some TV programs on Saudi-funded channels have sparked controversy among Iraqis.

Omar al-Jaffal | Saudi Arabia | May 18, 2020

Justice for genocide: Yazidis hopeful as Islamic State trial opens in Germany

An Iraqi man is on trial in a German court for human trafficking and genocide against the Yazidis.

Elizabeth Hagedorn | Iraq | Apr 24, 2020

Defence lawyers Serkan Alkan (L) and Martin Heising (R) look on as the Iraqi defendant, identified only as Taha al-J., believed to have belonged to the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, hides his face while arriving into the courtroom for the start of his trial for genocide and murdering a young Yazidi girl, he held as a slave, on April 24, 2020 at the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Frankfurt am Main. - Defence lawyers Serkan Alkan (L) and Martin Heising (R) look on as the Iraqi defendant, identified only

Amid public pressure, Iraq suspends transfer of IS families to Zummar camp

Iraqi minorities in the Ninevah Plain are complaining about the transfer of Islamic State families to a camp in their area.

Saman Dawod | Iraq | Apr 21, 2020

Iraq to exhume bodies from Yazidi mass graves

Iraq is uncovering and exhuming the mass graves of Islamic State victims, primarily Yazidis.

Saman Dawod | Iraq | Mar 20, 2020

Yazidis

Iraq's Yazidis call for autonomy as conflict flares between army, PKK affiliates

Ongoing tensions due to regional interference to settle scores among rivals threaten new acts of violence, menacing the Yazidi minority concentrated in the area.

Online ‘auctions’ of Yazidi captives speak of ongoing Islamic State activity in Turkey

Iraq mourns the first set of remains of Yazidi genocide victims

Neglected Yazidi mass graves finally exhumed in Iraq

Yazidis react to Sinjar accord amid growing KRG-PKK tensions in Iraq

Yazidi students achieve highest marks in Iraq entrance exams to universities

Yazidi spiritual leader Baba Sheikh dies at 87

Iraqi Kurdistan president carries conciliatory message from Baghdad to Ankara

Six years after Yazidi massacre, US urged to take 'bolder action'

Yazidis still negotiating return of kidnapped women, children

Reports: Children among the dead after Syrian rebels clash in Turkish-held Afrin

Iraqi series produced by Saudi Arabia sparks controversy

Justice for genocide: Yazidis hopeful as Islamic State trial opens in Germany

Amid public pressure, Iraq suspends transfer of IS families to Zummar camp

Iraq to exhume bodies from Yazidi mass graves

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