Peshmerga discover two more Ezidi mass graves in Shingal: Mayor

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Two mass graves containing remains of Kurdish Yezidi (Ezidi) people were found on Sunday in the Ezidi city of Sinjar (Shingal) in the southwestern Kurdistan Region, the Mayor revealed.

In a statement to local news outlets, the Mayor of Shingal Mahma Khalil said the Kurdish Peshmerga forces discovered two mass graves in the village of Shababik, 30 kilometers from the center of the city.

He mentioned the distance between both mass graves was 150 meters with each containing 10 bodies.

“Most of them are Ezidi men,” Khalil stated.

The Mayor also noted 29 mass graves of Ezidi people had been discovered inside and around Shingal so far.

Moreover, he explained the so-called Islamic State (IS) was responsible for the mass graves containing nearly 1,600 bodies.

After IS had occupied Shingal in August 2014, several Ezidi people were displaced to the Shingal Mountain and the Kurdistan Region.

The extremist group conducted mass executions of Ezidi men and kidnapped and enslaved their women who were later sold in areas under IS control in Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa in northeastern Syria.

In November 2015, Peshmerga forces with the support of the US-led coalition warplanes liberated the city from the insurgents.

“We are putting more efforts to free thousands of kidnapped Ezidis who remain under the control of [IS],” Khalil added.

He explained there were identification cards belonging to the bodies in the two mass graves which IS used bulldozers to try and bury.

The official office of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani for rescuing Ezidi people from IS has rescued 2,890 children, women, and men from the insurgent group so far, the PM said on Sunday.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany