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Islamic State seizes two Yazidi villages as it advances on Mount Sinjar Islamic State seizes two Yazidi villages as it advances on Mount Sinjar
(about 4 hours later)
BAGHDAD — Islamic State militants advanced on Mount Sinjar on Monday, seizing two villages and blocking roads as besieged fighters from the minority Yazidi sect pleaded for U.S.-led airstrikes to save them.BAGHDAD — Islamic State militants advanced on Mount Sinjar on Monday, seizing two villages and blocking roads as besieged fighters from the minority Yazidi sect pleaded for U.S.-led airstrikes to save them.
Yazidi volunteers who have been protecting the area for more than two months said they retreated from the villages north of the mountain after the extremists attacked in the early hours of Monday under the cover of bad weather. The Yazidis pulled back to a shrine on the mountain but said the militants were closing in — their armored vehicles visible just a few miles away. Yazidi volunteers who have been protecting the area for more than two months said they retreated from the villages north of the mountain after the extremists attacked in the early hours of Monday under the cover of bad weather. The Yazidis pulled back to a shrine in the foothills of the mountain but said the militants were closing in — their armored vehicles visible just a few miles away as night fell.
“We have so little ammunition, and they are advancing,” said Khalid Qassim Shesho, a 44-year-old fighter trapped in the Sharfadin shrine on Sinjar. “I can see five Humvees without using binoculars. We need planes!” “We have so little ammunition, and they are advancing,” said Khalid Qassim Shesho, a 44-year-old fighter trapped in the Sharfadin shrine. “I can see five Humvees without using binoculars. We need planes!”
The extremist gains around Mount Sinjar strike an embarrassing blow to the international campaign against the Islamic State. In August, President Obama authorized targeted airstrikes in Iraq to address the plight of thousands of Yazidis trapped there in the face of an initial militant onslaught. The extremist gains around Mount Sinjar strike an embarrassing blow to the international campaign against the Islamic State. In August, President Obama authorized targeted airstrikes in Iraq to address the plight of thousands of Yazidis trapped on Sinjar in the face of an initial militant onslaught.
The airstrikes have shown a limited ability to turn the tide against the extremists. In the western province of Anbar, the militants have seized territory and army bases, and they have the provincial capital in their sights. Overrunning Anbar would give the Islamic State a valuable perch from which to increasingly target Baghdad. However, the airstrikes have shown a limited ability to turn the tide against the extremists. In the western province of Anbar, the Sunni militants have seized territory and army bases, and they have the provincial capital in their sights. Overrunning Anbar would give the Islamic State a valuable perch from which to increasingly target Baghdad and Shiite areas to the south, which were shaken by multiple bombings on Monday.
The Islamic State’s treatment of the Yazidis, considered polytheists by the militant group, has been more brutal than with other sects. Yazidi men have been slaughtered and hundreds of women captured, with the Islamic State recently admitting to buying and selling them as slaves. The Islamic State argues that Yazidis are polytheists and, therefore, deserve brutal treatment. Yazidi men have been slaughtered and hundreds of women captured, with the Islamic State recently admitting to enslaving them and buying and selling them as concubines.
The numbers of those stranded on Monday were unclear. Tens of thousands of Yazidis were displaced from the area during Islamic State’s August assault, but some remained behind in more-remote parts of the mountain that had not been seized. The Islamic State has now blocked roads that had provided an evacuation route for Yazidis stranded on the mountain with little food, water or shelter two months ago. The numbers of those stranded on Monday were unclear. Tens of thousands of Yazidis were displaced from the area during the Islamic State’s August assault, but some remained behind in more-remote parts of the mountain and foothill villages that had not been seized.
Only about 20 families were left in Dohula, the first village to come under attack Monday, and they fled at the first sign of an assault, Yazidi fighters said.
The Yazidi gunmen were then forced to retreat to Bork, where a smattering of families had already fled, before pulling back to the Sharfadin shrine, which has become a makeshift military outpost.
Attacking from the north, the Islamic State has blocked roads that had served as an evacuation route for Yazidis two months ago when they were stranded on Sinjar with little food, water or shelter .
“We called asking for help with airstrikes, but nothing,” said Mohammad Khalil, a former Yazidi member of parliament who has been fighting alongside the 2,000-strong volunteer force in the area since late August. “Now we are all trapped, the fighters are trapped, the civilians are trapped.”“We called asking for help with airstrikes, but nothing,” said Mohammad Khalil, a former Yazidi member of parliament who has been fighting alongside the 2,000-strong volunteer force in the area since late August. “Now we are all trapped, the fighters are trapped, the civilians are trapped.”
Ali Qassem, a 26-year-old from Bork, which fell Monday along with nearby Dohula, said about 300 people had remained in his village — home to 4,000 before the conflict. Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi member of the Baghdad parliament, said that as many as 2,000 people were trapped on the mountain on Monday.
He spoke from the Sharfadin shrine, where he said he was sheltering with 400 other volunteer fighters — all of whom were coming under mortar fire.
Kurdish forces also were attempting to help repel the Islamic State’s advances from an artillery position on the mountain, he said.
Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi member of the Baghdad parliament, claimed that as many as 2,000 people were trapped on the mountain on Monday.
“If Daesh reaches them, they will kill them all,” she said, using the Arabic acronym for the extremist group.“If Daesh reaches them, they will kill them all,” she said, using the Arabic acronym for the extremist group.
Haji Ghandour, another Yazidi lawmaker, said that although those forced to flee their villages on Monday were largely fighters, about 700 Yazidi families remain in the area, many encamped on Mount Sinjar. Haji Ghandour, another Yazidi lawmaker, said that although those forced to flee their villages on Monday were largely fighters, about 700 Yazidi families remain in the area, many encamped on Sinjar.
“If the situation doesn’t change, we’ll see an event worse than in August,” he said.“If the situation doesn’t change, we’ll see an event worse than in August,” he said.
Ali Qassem, a 26-year-old from Bork, said he was sheltering with 400 other volunteer fighters, who were being targeted by mortar fire.
Kurdish forces also were attempting to help repel the Islamic State’s advances from an artillery position on the mountain, he said.
As night fell and the Islamic State’s Humvees crept closer, about 30 Kurdish soldiers arrived at the shrine from their encampment atop the mountain to provide reinforcements. They brought heavier weapons than the aged AK-47s that the volunteers carry, but fighters still feared that they may not be able to hold out.
“It’s very hard, and we are worried about how long we can hold,” said Faris Badl, a 40-year-old Yazidi. “But we can’t retreat. We need to protect the families on the mountain.”