Part of the Yazidi genocide, Iraqi Civil War (2014-2017), 2014 Northern Iraq offensive and the American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–present)
Mount Sinjar
Date
August 2014; 9 years ago (2014-08)
Location
Sinjar District, Nineveh Governorate, Iraq
Result
ISIL captured Sinjar[13] and executed thousands of Yazidis and abducted thousands of Yazidi women and children[14][15]
YPG and PKK, supported by US and British airstrikes, evacuate the majority of the 50,000 Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar, 9–13 August
Belligerents
Iraq
Kurdistan Region
Peshmerga
Kurdistan Workers' Party[1][2][3][4][5]
People's Protection Units[1][2][3][6]
Sinjar Resistance Units[7]
Syriac Military Council[8]
Supported by:
United States[9]
United Kingdom[10][11]
Australia[12]
Islamic State
Commanders and leaders
Massoud Barzani (Kurdistan Region) Murat Karayilan (PKK) Maj. Gen. Majid Abdul Salam Ashour †[16] (Iraqi Air Force)
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Leader)
Abu Muhannad al-Suwaydawi (Head of Military Shura)[17]
al-Hajj Abdullah[18] (Deputy to al-Baghdadi)
Abu Muslim al-Turkmani (Deputy, Iraq)
Casualties and losses
3,000 killed (approximately 12,000 Yazidis were killed or abducted by IS; per Yazda)[19][20]
5,000 killed (per U.N.)[14]
2,100 to 4,400 killed and 4,200 to 10,800 abducted (2017 Plos Medical survey)[15]
500,000 displaced[21]
v
t
e
War in Iraq (2013–2017)
Battles and operations
1st Anbar
1st Fallujah
1st Northern Iraq
1st Mosul
Badush prison
Camp Speicher
1st Kirkuk
2nd Northern Iraq
Zumar
Makhmour
1st Sinjar
Mosul Dam
Sharfadin
Musab bin Umair mosque
Suq al-Ghazi
Saqlawiyah
1st Hīt
Jurf al-Sakhar
Salahuddin
1st Baiji
Siege of Amirli
1st Tikrit
2nd Baiji
3rd Baiji
Dhuluiya
2nd Tikrit
1st Ramadi
2nd Sinjar
2nd Mosul
2nd Kirkuk
Al-Karmah
2nd Anbar
2nd Ramadi
2nd Fallujah
2nd Hīt
Ar-Rutbah
3rd Fallujah
3rd Sinjar
Nineveh Plains offensive
3rd Mosul
4th Mosul
Mosul airstrike
Western Nineveh
3rd Kirkuk
Hamam al-Alil
4th Sinjar
Turkish Sinjar airstrike
Tal Afar
Western Anbar
Hawija
Iraqi–Kurdish conflict
4th Kirkuk
Western Iraq
Major insurgent attacks
1st Hillah
1st Baghdad
Khan Bani Saad
2nd Baghdad
Sharaban
Ramadi
Mosul
3rd Baghdad
Miqdadiyah
2nd Hillah
Iskandariya
4th Baghdad
Samawa
5th Baghdad
1st Balad
Taji
6th Baghdad
7th Baghdad
2nd Balad
8th Baghdad
9th Baghdad
3rd Hillah
10th Baghdad
11th Baghdad
Tikrit
12th Baghdad
Nasiriyah
Foreign interventions
Iranian-led intervention
American-led intervention
Inherent Resolve
Shader
Okra
Chammal
Impact
IS genocide of minorities
Christian genocide
Yazidi genocide
Shia genocide
Turkmen genocide
IS war crimes
Mosul executions
Chemical weapons
Timeline
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
The Sinjar massacre (Kurdish: Komkujiya Şengalê) marked the beginning of the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL, the killing and abduction of thousands[14][15][22] of Yazidi men, women and children. It took place in August 2014 in Sinjar city and Sinjar District in Iraq's Nineveh Governorate and was perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The massacre began with ISIL attacking and capturing Sinjar and neighboring towns on 3 August, during its Northern Iraq offensive.
On 8 August 2014, the United States and the United Kingdom responded with airstrikes on ISIL units and convoys in northern Iraq, which led to a military intervention from several countries against ISIL.
On 17 December 2014, the Kurdish Peshmerga, PKK and YPG forces started the December 2014 Sinjar offensive with the support of US and British airstrikes. This offensive broke ISIL's troop transport routes and supply lines between Mosul and Raqqa, the largest cities in the Islamic State at the time.
According to Noori Abdulrahman, the head of the Department of Coordination and Follow-up of the Kurdistan Regional Government, ISIL wanted to push most of the Kurds out of strategic areas and bring in Arabs who were obedient to ISIL.[23]
^ abRoussinos, Aris (16 August 2014). "'Everywhere Around Is the Islamic State': On the Road in Iraq with YPG Fighters". Vice News. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
^ ab"U.S. airstrikes helped, but Kurds from Syria turned tide against Islamic State". Retrieved 1 December 2014.
^ abShelton, Tracey (29 August 2014). "'If it wasn't for the Kurdish fighters, we would have died up there'". Global Post. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
^"Yazidi survivor recalls horror of evading ISIS, death". CNN.
^Pamuk, Humeyra (26 August 2014). "Smugglers and Kurdish militants help Iraq's Yazidis flee to Turkey". Reuters. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
^Syrian Kurds provide Iraq's Peshmerga support against ISIS Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Middleeastmonitor.com (4 August 2014).
^"No Escape from Mount Sinjar". Foreign Policy. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
^"Video: YPG and MFS arrived in Shingal Mountains Sinjar to protect the refugees who fled from Shingal and other Towns News by Suroyo TV 4.8.2014 Western Dialect Source Suroyo T". Frequency.com.
^Obama Authorizes 'Targeted' Airstrikes Against ISIS in Iraq – NBC News. NBC News.com (7 August 2014).
^"US troops land on Iraq's Mt Sinjar to plan for Yazidi evacuation". the guardian. 13 August 2014.
^"SAS sent in to Iraq as US troops land on Mount Sinjar". The Daily Telegraph. 13 August 2014.
^Australian Embassy, Iraq. "Media Release - Australian Prime Minister visits Baghdad". Quote: Australia has been active here in Iraq since August 2014: first, with humanitarian food drops in Mt Sinjar and elsewhere; second, with delivering weapons to those who are fighting against the Daesh death cult...
^Cite error: The named reference seize3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abcCite error: The named reference 5,000 Yazidis executed by ISIL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abcCetorelli, Valeria (9 May 2017). "Mortality and kidnapping estimates for the Yazidi population in the area of Mount Sinjar, Iraq, in August 2014: A retrospective household survey". PLOS Medicine. 14 (5): e1002297. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002297. PMC 5423550. PMID 28486492.
^Rubin, Alissa J. (16 August 2014). "On a Helicopter, Going Down: Inside a Lethal Crash in Iraq". The New York Times.
^"Military Skill and Terrorist Technique Fuel Success of ISIS". New York Times. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
^Paul Cruickshank (29 January 2020). "UN report warns ISIS is reasserting under new leader believed to be behind Yazidi genocide". CNN. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
^"Yazda Statement: Commemorating the Fourth Anniversary of the Yazidi Genocide". Yazda.
^"The Yazidi Refugee Crisis" (PDF). Yazda.
^"COI Note on the Situation of Yazidi IDPs in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq" (PDF). UNHCR.
^Cite error: The named reference CNN7Aug was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Kurdish official: ISIS Capture of Shingal 'was part of Arabization campaign. Rudaw.net, 29 December 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
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Global Information
Islamic State
Massoud Barzani
Murat Karayilan
Maj. Gen. Majid Abdul Salam Ashour †[16]
