Ezidi man dies from IS-planted mine explosion

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Yezidi (Ezidi) man from Nineveh Province died on Tuesday when an Islamic State (IS)-planted mine exploded in his deserted home.

Ali Murad Ravo Sleman, 25, fled from his hometown of Gir Azer, an Ezidi majority settlement in the Sinjar (Shingal) district, on Aug. 3, 2014, following IS’ invasion of Nineveh.

He then settled at one of the camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Syrian refugees in the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok Province.

On July 10, Sleman and his two friends went to the Gir Azer subdistrict to retrieve some official documents belonging to his family members.

They arrived at a home with a partially-collapsed roof.

“As he entered the house ahead of his friends, the mine exploded, and Sleman lost his life with the other two only sustaining minor injuries,” Kurdistan 24 reported from Shingal.

Once they retreat from a region, the extremist group is known to hide mines and lay explosive traps under roads, in houses, buildings, farmland, yards, and even among children’s toys.

“We have asked the authorities many times to find a solution for the IS-planted mines in the houses and asked for a comprehensive demining, but so far we have not been answered.”

In the past four years, after the IS invasion, 10 civilians from Shingal district have lost their lives to mine explosions.

Ezidi commander Haider Shasho had previously said his people are dissatisfied with the current leaders and called on Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government to work together in stabilizing the “Kurdish areas,” referring to disputed territories between Baghdad and Erbil.

“Shingal is currently under the control of Hashd al-Shaabi” militias, he said, adding that “the people are not happy with their rule.”

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany