Update II regarding Shingal: This are comments from other media: The UN has warned that up to 200,000 people have been forced to flee their homes after militants took over more towns in northern Iraq. Islamic State (formerly known as Isis) militants are reported to have taken over the town of Sinjar near Syria. It follows the IS takeover of the town of Zumar and two nearby oilfields from Kurdish Peshmerga forces on Saturday. ISIS destroy Sheikh Sharfaddin grave in Sinjar (Shingal), holy shrine of Yezidi Sheikh. Also there are videos supposedly showing Syrian-Kurdish YPG units arriving in parts of Shingal and are welcomed by the local population. Also the Peshmerga commanders claim that not all of Shingal has fallen into the hands of IS but that Peshmerga forces have still some control over areas and are waiting for massive reinforcements arriving tonight. For sure IS has started executing members of the Êzidî minority and are terrorizing other Êzidî areas as well - as they have also captured several villages and towns in the area. Some of the Êzidî fled into the Syrian-Kurdish controlled areas of Rojava to seek safety. It seems likely that IS is trying to build up a corridor from Mosul via Tal Afar towards the Syrian-Kurdish Autonomy region - to separate the area like they tried around Kobani/Ayn al-Arab. The exact numbers of causalities - civilians and Kurdish fighters as well as IS members - are unclear, but the last two days for sure have seen massive losses on all sides.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 15:31:49 +0000
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