The Islamic State considers the Yazidi to be apostates and its militants are killing those who refuse to leave their homes or convert to Islam.
(The Yazidis are a mainly Kurdish-speaking religious group who for centuries have lived in the northern mountains of Iraq. They are a strong community of around 500,000, though the exact number of the people is not officially known.)
Tens of thousands of Yazidis have fled to Mount Sinjar, where they are in desperate need of food, water, and medical supplies, all of which are coming, but reports suggest not quickly enough.
Iraq’s minister for human rights has alleged that Islamic militants had buried Yazidi women and children alive in an offensive against the religious group that saw 500 of its population killed. A further 300 Yazidi women are claimed to have been kidnapped as slaves.
Thousands of the Yazidi people have sought refuge on Mount Sinjar and getting close to the Syrian border (August 2014)
