Iraqi Official: Hundreds Of Yazidi Women Held Captive By Islamic State
| By SAMEER N. YACOUB BAGHDAD (AP) — Hundreds of women from the Yazidi religious minority have been taken captive by Sunni militants with "vicious plans," an Iraqi official said Friday, further underscoring the dire plight of Iraq's minorities at the hands of the Islamic State group.
Kamil Amin, the spokesman for Iraq's Human Rights Ministry, said hundreds of Yazidi women below the age of 35 are being held in schools in Iraq's second largest city, Mosul. He said the ministry learned of the captives from their families.
"We think that the terrorists by now consider them slaves and they have vicious plans for them," Amin told The Associated Press. "We think that these women are going to be used in demeaning ways by those terrorists to satisfy their animalistic urges in a way that contradicts all the human and Islamic values."
The U.S. has confirmed that the Islamic State group has kidnapped and imprisoned Yazidi women so that they can be sold or married off to extremist fighters, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information came from classified intelligence reports. There was no solid estimate of the number of women victimized, the official said.
Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled when the Islamic State group earlier this month captured the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar, near the Syrian border. The Yazidis practice an ancient religion that the Sunni Muslim radicals consider heretical.
The extremist group's capture of a string of towns and villages in the north has sent minority communities fleeing for their lives. The Islamic state views Yazidis and Shiite Muslims as apostates, and has demanded Christians either convert to Islam or pay a special tax.
About 50,000 Yazidis — half of them children, according to U.N. figures — fled to the mountains outside Sinjar where many of them remain, trapped and running out of food and water. Late Thursday, the U.S. military cargo jets dropped humanitarian aid to the mountains.
Amin's comments were the first Iraqi government confirmation that some women were being held by the group. On Tuesday, Yazidi lawmaker Vian Dakheel made an emotional plea in parliament to the Iraqi government to save the Yazidi people, saying the "women have been sold in a slavery market."
President Barack Obama said the humanitarian airdrops were made at the request of the Iraqi government as the Islamic State militant group tightened its grip on northern Iraq. In his remarks late Thursday, he mentioned "chilling reports" of fighters with the group "rounding up families, conducting mass executions, and enslaving Yazidi women."
The U.N. Security Council issued a statement Friday condemning targeted attacks against Iraq's minorities, adding that any widespread attacks against civilian populations based on ethnic, religious or political background may be considered a crime against humanity for which those responsible must be held accountable.
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Associated Press reporter Vivian Salama in Baghdad contributed to this report.
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08/08/2014 10:56 PM EDT
US Drops More Aid
The U.S. has dropped more humanitarian aid in Iraq to help refugees, the Pentagon said. Supplies include food and water.
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08/08/2014 7:16 PM EDT
U.S. Official: Iraq Supplies Kurdish Fighters With AmmunitionWASHINGTON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - The Iraqi government delivered a planeload of ammunition to Arbil, the capital of Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region, on Friday in an unprecedented act of military cooperation between Kurdish and Iraqi forces, a U.S. official said.The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Iraqi security forces, under the command of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite Arab, delivered the mostly small-arms ammunition in a C-130 cargo plane to resupply the Kurdish Peshmerga forces as they fight militants from the Islamic State.The Obama administration is working with the Iraqi government to ensure that additional requests from the Kurdistan Regional Government, including mortars and AK-47s, are met "as quickly as possible," the official said.
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08/08/2014 7:09 PM EDT
US Official: Iraqi Kurdish Govt Requested Small Arms, Ammo
Reuters reports that a U.S. official said the Iraqi Kurdistan government has requested small arms and ammunition.
The U.S. is working with the Iraqi government to meet Kurdish needs "as soon as possible," the official said.
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08/08/2014 6:40 PM EDT
U.S. State Department Issues Iraq Travel Warning
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-- Andrew Hart
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08/08/2014 5:57 PM EDT
Kurdish TV Shows Stranded Yazidis Scrambling For Aid On Mountaintop
Kurdish news organization Rudaw released dramatic footage it says shows Yazidi families stranded on an Iraqi mountaintop scrambling for aid.
Rudaw said the journalists accompanied Kurdish troops on an aid drop to members of the Yazidi community who fled the Islamic State militant group's advance into northern Iraq earlier this week. It was not immediately clear when the incident was filmed.
The ISIS fighters tried to shoot down the helicopter that delivered the assistance but the helicopter’s gunner responded with heavy fire.This is the mountain ridge where tens of thousands of Yezidi Kurd have lived an unimaginable life for a week.As the helicopter prepared for landing, people ran from every direction and raised their hands for help.
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08/08/2014 4:16 PM EDT
More on kidnapped Yazidis
From the AP:
Hundreds of women from the Yazidi religious minority have been taken captive by Sunni militants with "vicious plans," an Iraqi official said Friday, further underscoring the dire plight of Iraq's minorities at the hands of the Islamic State group.Kamil Amin, the spokesman for Iraq's Human Rights Ministry, said hundreds of Yazidi women below the age of 35 are being held in schools in Iraq's second largest city, Mosul. He said the ministry learned of the captives from their families.
Read more here.
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08/08/2014 3:03 PM EDT
Watch A Vice Series From Behind ISIS Lines
Vice is running a five-part documentary on ISIS, with unprecedented access to the Sunni extremist network. Part two was released on Friday; watch it below:
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08/08/2014 11:07 AM EDT
FAA Restrict U.S. Planes From Flying Over Iraq
Read the press release here.
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08/08/2014 8:38 AM EDT
Hagel: U.S. Has Enough Intelligence To Hit Militants
From the AP:
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the U.S. military has enough intelligence to clearly single out Islamic militants and launch effective airstrikes if they threaten U.S. interests or the thousands of refugees who fled to a mountaintop.
Read more here.
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08/08/2014 4:01 AM EDT
David Cameron Expresses Support For U.S. Action In Iraq
Following President Barack Obama's authorization of targeted military strikes in Iraq, British Prime Minister David Cameron expressed his support of the action to protect American interests and civilians from the siege of Islamic State militants in Iraq.
Cameron added that the United Kingdom had chaired a United Nations Security Council meeting on the "barbaric attacks" carried out by militants on the Yazidi people and other minorities in Iraq.
-- Andrew Hart
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08/07/2014 11:16 PM EDT
Full Text Of Obama's Statement On Iraq
From the Associated Press:
Good evening. Today I authorized two operations in Iraq -- targeted airstrikes to protect our American personnel, and a humanitarian effort to help save thousands of Iraqi civilians who are trapped on a mountain without food and water and facing almost certain death. Let me explain the actions we're taking and why.First, I said in June -- as the terrorist group ISIL began an advance across Iraq -- that the United States would be prepared to take targeted military action in Iraq if and when we determined that the situation required it. In recent days, these terrorists have continued to move across Iraq, and have neared the city of Irbil, where American diplomats and civilians serve at our consulate and American military personnel advise Iraqi forces.To stop the advance on Irbil, I've directed our military to take targeted strikes against ISIL terrorist convoys should they move toward the city. We intend to stay vigilant, and take action if these terrorist forces threaten our personnel or facilities anywhere in Iraq, including our consulate in Irbil and our embassy in Baghdad. We're also providing urgent assistance to Iraqi government and Kurdish forces so they can more effectively wage the fight against ISIL.Second, at the request of the Iraqi government -- we've begun operations to help save Iraqi civilians stranded on the mountain. As ISIL has marched across Iraq, it has waged a ruthless campaign against innocent Iraqis. And these terrorists have been especially barbaric towards religious minorities, including Christian and Yezidis, a small and ancient religious sect. Countless Iraqis have been displaced. And chilling reports describe ISIL militants rounding up families, conducting mass executions, and enslaving Yezidi women.In recent days, Yezidi women, men and children from the area of Sinjar have fled for their lives. And thousands -- perhaps tens of thousands -- are now hiding high up on the mountain, with little but the clothes on their backs. They're without food, they're without water. People are starving. And children are dying of thirst. Meanwhile, ISIL forces below have called for the systematic destruction of the entire Yezidi people, which would constitute genocide. So these innocent families are faced with a horrible choice: descend the mountain and be slaughtered, or stay and slowly die of thirst and hunger.I've said before, the United States cannot and should not intervene every time there's a crisis in the world. So let me be clear about why we must act, and act now. When we face a situation like we do on that mountain -- with innocent people facing the prospect of violence on a horrific scale, when we have a mandate to help -- in this case, a request from the Iraqi government -- and when we have the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre, then I believe the United States of America cannot turn a blind eye. We can act, carefully and responsibly, to prevent a potential act of genocide. That's what we're doing on that mountain.I've, therefore, authorized targeted airstrikes, if necessary, to help forces in Iraq as they fight to break the siege of Mount Sinjar and protect the civilians trapped there. Already, American aircraft have begun conducting humanitarian airdrops of food and water to help these desperate men, women and children survive. Earlier this week, one Iraqi in the area cried to the world, "There is no one coming to help." Well, today, America is coming to help. We're also consulting with other countries -- and the United Nations -- who have called for action to address this humanitarian crisis.I know that many of you are rightly concerned about any American military action in Iraq, even limited strikes like these. I understand that. I ran for this office in part to end our war in Iraq and welcome our troops home, and that's what we've done. As commander in chief, I will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in Iraq. And so even as we support Iraqis as they take the fight to these terrorists, American combat troops will not be returning to fight in Iraq, because there's no American military solution to the larger crisis in Iraq. The only lasting solution is reconciliation among Iraqi communities and stronger Iraqi security forces.However, we can and should support moderate forces who can bring stability to Iraq. So even as we carry out these two missions, we will continue to pursue a broader strategy that empowers Iraqis to confront this crisis. Iraqi leaders need to come together and forge a new government that represents the legitimate interests of all Iraqis, and that can fight back against the threats like ISIL. Iraqis have named a new president, a new speaker of Parliament, and are seeking.
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08/07/2014 10:17 PM EDT
Details Of Humanitarian Aid Airdrops In Iraq
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More details of the airdrops approved by President Barack Obama:
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08/07/2014 10:13 PM EDT
John Kerry Statement On Iraq Intervention
Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement following President Barack Obama's announcement that the he had authorized airstrikes on Islamic militant targets in Iraq on Thursday night. The statement said, "The United States is acting and leading, and the world cannot sit by and watch innocents die."
The full statement from TIME's Zeke Miller:
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08/07/2014 9:47 PM EDT
Obama Authorizes Airstrikes In Iraq
President Barack Obama announced he had authorized the use of airstrikesagainst Islamic militants in Iraq on Thursday night.
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"When we have the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre, then I believe the United States of America cannot turn a blind eye," Obama said.
More on Obama's statement on intervention in Iraq can be found here.
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08/07/2014 9:33 PM EDT
'Targeted Airstrikes'
Obama said Thursday night that he has authorized two operations in Iraq: "Targeted airstrikes... and a humanitarian effort." Developing...
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