Militants kill 80 Yazidis, kidnap women in north Iraq
Updated: 2014-08-16 18:19
(Xinhua)
|
|||||||||
A boy from the minority Yazidi, who fled the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, stands in Bajed Kadal refugee camp south west of Dohuk province August 15, 2014.[Photo/Agencies] |
MOSUL, Iraq - Insurgents of the Islamic State militant group killed some 80 members of Iraqi Yazidi religious minority and kidnapped some 200 women and children from the minority, a Kurdish security source said on Saturday.
Australia to offer refuge to Iraqi Yazidis |
The Yazidis were killed because they refused to convert to Islam, the source said.
Meanwhile, more than 200 women and children have been kidnapped by the Islamic State militants and said to be seized in the city of Tal Afar, some 70 km west of Mosul, which has been under the control of the militants more than a month ago, the source said.
Earlier, the militants captured the town of the predominantly Yazidi town of Sinjar and surrounding villages, pushing dozens of thousands Yazidis to flee their homes to Sinjar mountain and the nearby cities of the Kurdistan region.
The security situation began to drastically deteriorate in Iraq on June 10 when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and hundreds of Sunni militants who took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories after the Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.
- China to help upgrade US transport network
- Youth Olympic Games kick off in Nanjing
- Earthquake relief
- Delegation visits San Francisco to promote Canton Fair
- Chinese doctors leave for Guinea for 2-year mission
- Chinese medics train Sierra Leone health workers
- Chocolate gets new foothold in Shanghai
- Chinese community contributes to quake relief
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
Leading leaden lives |
Former security chief under probe |
China helps fight international war on drugs |
Crackdown on terrorist attacks |
My China Story: Meeting the master |
Tongues tied around tatu-bola |
Today's Top News
APEC sets ball rolling for free trade
China's holdings of US securities take a slight dip
China seeks to conduct dialogue with Vatican
China opposes Japan PM's offering to Yasukuni Shrine
China-US relations' road ahead
Huge IT layoffs trigger labor friction
Taiwan arms sales a lingering irritant
Xiaomi faces privacy investigation
US Weekly
Geared to go |
The place to be |