ISIS’ massacres of Yazidi populations are now a full on genocide as the terrorist militants killed at least 200 Yazidis near Mosul, Iraq, on Friday, an senior Iraqi lawmaker said Sunday.
The political party Yazidi Progress reported a higher figure, with more than 300 killed. The slaughter included men, women and children. There were no reported survivors of the attack.
The Yazidis are one of the world’s smallest and oldest monotheistic religious minorities. Their religion was founded before Islam and draws from Christianity, Judaism and the ancient monotheistic religion of Zoroastrianism.
They have been a frequent target of ISIS in the parts of Iraq and Syria the group controls.
Kurdish troops have been battling ISIS on the ground, while U.S. and other coalition fighters attack them from the sky. Iraqi member of parliament Habib al-Tarfi, citing information from Kurdish intelligence sources, reported Sunday that at least 200 were killed Friday. “We condemn this heinous act against this Iraqi component of our society, our Yazidi brothers,” he said.
ISIS attacks on Yazidis drove an estimated 40,000 up into the Sinjar Mountains last summer.
The latest massacre raises questions of UN involvement in the matter. Thus far the United Nations, under the tepid leadership of Ban Ki Moon, has been silent on the issue and has not been involved. Critics have argued the silence is enabling the genocide.
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