Discovery of a Mass Grave of Yazidi Women in Sinjar

Following the liberation of the Kurdish city of Sinjar from a year-and-a-half-long ISIS control, the victorious Peshmerga forces have reported the discovery of a mass grave containing Yazidi women. It is estimated that the bodies of 78 Yazidi women aged between 40 and 80, who were executed while fleeing captivity from the Islamic State group, are in this mass grave. ISIS forces took control of Sinjar and the surrounding mountains last summer (August 2014), killing many men and capturing numerous women for sexual slavery. Kurdish Peshmerga forces, under the command of Masoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, began their advance from three routes to liberate the occupied areas of Sinjar early last Thursday. The international coalition, led by the United States, facilitated the ground advance of about 7,500 Peshmerga with airstrikes, but the main operations were carried out by the Kurdish Peshmerga. On Friday, the Peshmerga declared the area 'liberated' upon entering the city, but scattered battles continued within the city to eliminate remaining ISIS elements. Following the liberation of Sinjar, a mass grave was discovered based on signs from witnesses of the mass execution of captured women last year, although the excavation has not yet been fully completed. The grave is located in the southern outskirts of Sinjar, with pieces of white clothing worn by Yazidi Kurdish women found scattered outside the grave. A former member of the Sinjar City Council told AFP that the bodies of 78 women, aged between 40 and 80, are piled in this mass grave. According to this Kurdish activist, the Islamic State group is more interested in enslaving much younger girls and women. ISIS considers the Yazidi Kurdish minority, like Shiites, Christians, and Assyrians, as 'Rafidis' and infidels, claiming the 'right' to enslave their women. The Islamic State has sold young girls and women, including very young Yazidi women and other captives, after subjecting them to sexual slavery in other areas of Iraq under its control, particularly Mosul. Last year, videos of the auctioning of young women in the slave market of Mosul shocked global public opinion. The United Nations has described ISIS's actions against the Yazidis as a 'genocide.' The Yazidi Kurds are among the oldest ethnic groups in the region, believed by many to have Iranian roots. Sinjar, located in Iraq's Nineveh province, which the Kurds call Shingal, is situated northwest of Iraq, 110 kilometers from Mosul, which remains under ISIS control and is considered the group's headquarters in Iraq. Masoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, has stated that Sinjar and its mountains could be turned into a province within the Kurdistan region, but Haider al-Abadi, the Prime Minister of Iraq, has apparently not welcomed this proposal and has expressed displeasure over why the flag of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was raised in the liberated Sinjar. Loyalists to Barzani have stated that the raising of the Kurdistan Region flag in liberated Sinjar was to prevent different parties from raising their own flags.