Iraqi Kurdish leader vows to avenge crimes against Izadis
The president of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has pledged to take revenge for the appalling crimes committed by Takfiri ISIL militants against the Izadi community.
"We will hunt down those who committed these crimes until the last one," Massoud Barzani said at a ceremony in the city of Dohuk, located 430 kilometers (260 miles) northwest of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Monday to commemorate the anniversary of the ISIL onslaught against Izadis.
He added that ISIL has lost thousands of its members on the battlefield, noting, '"This is not enough in comparison with the crimes they committed."
The KRG estimates that there are 550,000 members of the Izadi community in Iraq. Izadis reportedly account for 400,000 of the more than three million people who have been displaced in Iraq ever since ISIL Takfiris began their march through the Iraqi territory in June 2014.
According to the KRG figures, 1,280 Izadis were killed when ISIL terrorists overran the city of Sinjar last summer. Tens of thousands of people, fearing for their lives, scrambled up the mountain surrounding the area, and remained stranded there for days without any basic commodities and in sizzling temperatures.
It is estimated that 280 people died due to the harsh conditions they were subjected to, and 841 others are still missing.
More than 5,800 were also abducted by ISIL members, who are exploiting Izadi girls and women as sex slaves. Just over 2,000 of them have managed to escape from the clutches of ISIL.
The United Nations has said that ISIL atrocities against the Izadi Kurds may amount to genocide.
In May, Zainab Bangura, the special representative of the UN secretary general on sexual violence in conflict, said that the Takfiri group is committing horrendous crimes against women, particularly against those from the Izadi community.
The Takfiris currently control parts of Syria and Iraq. They have threatened all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians, Izadi Kurds and others, as they continue their atrocities in Iraq and Syria.
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