MOSCOW,— A delegation of the Yazidi spiritual council is in Moscow to seek help from the Russian government in rescuing Yazidi hostages from the self-claimed Islamic State IS.
The delegates told Rudaw the main reason for the visit was the need for the support of the Russian government, adding that the US-led coalition had not been very effective in rescuing those under IS captivity in Raqqa, Syria.
The delegation will hold meetings with high-ranking Russian officials to plan for the release of hundreds of young Kurdish Yazidi women.
These Kurdish Yazidi officials said the US had not shown enough support and for that reason they have turned to Russia.
On September 30, Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria, claiming to target IS positions in northeastern Homs province.
Islamic State group (IS) has extended its control on most parts of Sinjar (Shingal) district, west of Mosul on August 3, 2014 which led thousands of Kurdish families to flee to Mount Sinjar, where they were trapped in it and suffered from significant lack of water and food, killing and abduction of thousands of Yazidis as well as rape and captivity of thousands of women.
Those who stay behind are subjected to brutal, genocidal acts: thousands killed, hundreds buried alive, and countless acts of rape, kidnapping and enslavement are perpetuated against Yazidi women. To add insult to injury, IS fighters ransack and destroy ancient Yazidi holy sites.
According to Human Rights organizations, thousands of Yazidi Kurdish women and girls have been forced to marry or been sold into sexual slavery by the IS jihadists. Kurdish officials say thousands of Yazidi girls still in Islamic State captivity.
At least 430,000 Kurdish Yazidis have been driven out of their homes since August 2014 by the Islamic State, a new report by the Kurdistan Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Victims has found.
Over 600,000 Yazidis live in villages in Iraqi Kurdistan region and in Kurdish areas outside Kurdistan region in around Mosul in Nineveh province, with additional communities in Transcaucasia, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, and Syria. Additional Yazidi communities located in Germany.
There are almost 1.5 million Yazidis worldwide.
Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, rudaw.net | Ekurd.net
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