Iraq PM visits Sinjar, promises to defend Yezidis

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Monday visited an Ezidi (Yezidi) community in rural Nineveh province.

Kadhimi went to Sinjar (Shingal) district's Kocho village, the site of "ISIS's the most heinous crimes against our Yezidi people," the premier's office said in a statement.

During ISIS's violent takeover of the region in 2014, members of the terrorist organization killed over 800 people in Kocho village in a mass killing campaign targeting Yezidis widely recognized as genocide.

Despite repeated pleas by the ethnoreligious minority community, services and security remain poor, limiting their ability to safely return to and rebuild their areas.

Read More: Poor security, services in Sinjar force 95 Yezidi families to return to Kurdistan Region camps

Speaking to a group of villagers, Kadhimi said, "today, we are among you to remember the crimes of ISIS, and the pain it caused, but this pain will strengthen us in the face of terrorism, just as it will strengthen the blood ties of all Iraqis."

"Nothing will deter us from rebuilding our homeland and respecting its political, ethnic, and religious diversity," he added.

Read More: Few Yezidis have returned to Sinjar since 2014 ISIS takeover, 2,763 remain kidnapped: KRG

Kadhimi stated that "the tragedy of the Yezidis must not be repeated, and that the state will defend its sons."