Today marks the 10th anniversary of the 3 August massacre in the Yazidi town of Shengal (Sinjar) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. When the ISIS gangs stood at the doors of Shengal, thousands of Peshmerga and Asayish (Local Security Force) of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) chaired by Masoud Barzani, who until that very moment controlled the Shengal town, made a quick getaway without shooting even one single bullet. As a result of the flight of the KDP Peshmerga, thousands of Yazidis were slaughtered by the ISIS gangs, thousands more were abducted, predominantly women and children, and sold at markets into slavery. Interestingly, shortly before the genocide took place, the KDP forces seized all the arms and weapons the Yazidis had at that time and took into custody three of the twelve guerrillas of the People's Defense Forces (HPG) and the Free Women's Troops (YJA-Star), who came to the rescue of the fleeing Yazidi people. All this made it indeed very clear how well-prepared and organized this extensive genocide actually was.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) killed, captured and displaced all 400,000 Yazidi people living in Shengal on 3 August 2014, in a genocide that disproportionately affected children. About 10,000 Yazidis were killed or abducted. Half of all those executed were children, according to a report by multi-national researchers in the journal PLoS Medicine.

Nearly all (93%) of those who eventually died on Mount Shengal from injuries or lack of food and water were also children. Of the around 6,400 abducted Yazidis, it’s estimated about half were children, according to the Yazidi-led nonprofit Nadia’s Initiative. Boys as young as seven were sent to ISIS training camps and girls as young as nine were subjected to rape and sexual enslavement, says a Save the Children report.

Today, about 2,700 Yazidis remain missing, including around 1,300 who were children at the time of their abduction, according to estimates from Yazda, a Yazidi advocacy group in Iraq. About 300 to 400 of those still missing are likely to be still under 18. So far, over 3,500 Yazidis have been rescued, including 2,000 children, according to Nadia’s Initiative.

On the 10th anniversary of the genocide in Shengal, workplaces remained closed throughout the day and dozens of protests and events were held. While those martyred in the Shengal resistance were commemorated, KDP betrayal was once again condemned on every platform.

Thousands of people participated in the march organised under the motto 'From Genocide and Slavery to Autonomy and Freedom'.

Participants of the march saluted the resistance of HPG and YJA Star guerrillas and chanted slogans such as 'Down with Treason, Long Live the Shengal Resistance'.

During the march, posters of those who were martyred in the resistance against the genocide of 3 August 2014 were displayed.

Women wore black clothes in protest against ISIS gangs abducting Yazidi women and selling them in slave markets. Some women chained themselves and carried photographs of abducted and murdered Yazidi women.

The march, which started in front of the People's Assembly, continued until Mekteba Sor (Red School) in the city centre. Representatives of the Autonomous Administration of Shengal and representatives of PADÊ (Yazidi Party for Freedom and Democracy) and TAJÊ (Yazidi Women's Freedom Movement) are expected to make speeches.