Iraq: Turkmen, Ezidis killed by ISIL exceed 6,000

BAGHDAD

 Around 6,000 Turkmen and Ezidis have been killed in the attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, since June, according to a Iraqi government report.

Around 5,000 Ezidis, and 1,000 Turkmen have been killed in ISIL attacks, said the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights in a statement Sunday, citing a report issued by the Ministry of Displacement and Migration.

The report puts the number of displaced people at one million, including 400,000 Ezidis, and 600,000 Turkmen who have fled to safer regions.

Around 350,000 Ezidis fled from the town of Sinjar west of Mosul, whereas Turkmen fled from the provinces of Nineveh, Saladin, Kirkuk and Diyala, the statement said.

 The number of missing Ezidi women, including those kidnapped by ISIL has hit 2,500; whereas 300 women abducted by the militant group have been freed, it added.

The Kurdish Peshmerga forces managed to defeat ISIL after three days of clashes and took control of Sinjar on Saturday.

Sinjar, which is home to many Ezidi Kurds, had been under ISIL control since August 3, when the Peshmerga withdrew from the region. Around 30,000 Ezidis fled to Mount Sinjar following the seizure. Of this number, 20,000 have been transferred to the province of Dohuk through a safe corridor along the Syrian border.

ISIL's weeks-long siege of Mount Sinjar was broken last Thursday after a successful operation of Iraqi Peshmerga, backed by the U.S.-led international coalition.

It is estimated that there are still around 10,000 Ezidis trapped on Mt. Sinjar, and the Iraqi government has been sending humanitarian aid to the region with helicopters. 

Iraq has been in a security vacuum since June, when ISIL overran Mosul and declared what it called a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria.

www.aa.com.tr/en