Another mass grave of Yazidis found in Shengal

A mass grave of Yazidis was found in Shengal, increasing the number of mass graves discovered so far to 93.

ISIS committed a massacre in the Yazidi town of Shengal (Sinjar) on 3 August 2014, leaving behind dozens of mass graves and the fate of thousands of Yazidis is still unknown.

Workers taking part in the road repair in Sîba Şêx Xidir neighbourhood in the south of Mount Shengal have discovered a mass grave. It is not yet known how many bodies were found in the mass grave.

Thus, the number of mass graves containing dozens of corpses in Shengal rose to 93. So far, 55 mass graves have been opened, while no work has been conducted yet to open 38 others.

The city of Shengal in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is the last contiguous settlement area of the Yazidi community. Thousands of Yazidis were murdered, and thousands of women and children were taken prisoner in the 3 August 2014 onslaught on Shengal by ISIS militants. While ISIS gangs began murdering Yazidis in Shengal, the Peshmerga left, leaving the Yazidis behind, unprotected. The guerrillas of HPG (People’s Defense Forces) and YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops) and fighters of the YPG (People’s Defense Units) and YPJ (Women’s Defense Units) came to the Yazidi people's aid in the face of ISIS aggression. Thanks to a months-long selfless struggle, the city was liberated on 13 November 2015. After the liberation of the city, the HPG and YPG/YPJ subsequently withdrew in 2017. People who returned to their land after Shengal's independence reformed, established defensive units and built their institutions.