Militants in Iraq have killed about 80 Yazidis in a village in the north of the country, it has been claimed.
A Kurdish official told Reuters that Islamic State (IS) fighters had arrived in the village and
demanded they abandon their beliefs.
A man from a neighbouring village, who had been told what happened, added: “The Islamic State had spent five days trying to persuade villagers to convert to Islam and … a long lecture was delivered about the subject today.”
“The men were gathered and shot dead.
“The women and girls were probably taken to Tal Afar because that is where the foreign fighters are.”
Another official and a Yazidi politician also confirmed the hour-long “massacre” had taken place.
Thousands of Yazidis – people from a minority sect with an ancient religion – have been forced to flee their homes by the IS advance.
The extremist group, previously called ISIS, has swept across a large part of northern and central Iraq, taking Mosul and threatening Baghdad and Kurdish capital Irbil.
Iraq’s human rights minister has said that Islamic State militants have killed at least 500 members of the Yazidi community during their offensive in the north.
Some of the victims, including women and children, were buried alive, Mohammed Shia al Sudani said.
The United Nations Security Council on Friday blacklisted six Islamist militants and threatened sanctions against anyone who helped arm or supply them.
Five members of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which operates in Syria, and Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al Adnani were included on the British-drafted resolution, which also condemned all aspects of IS’s activities and beliefs.
Earlier, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed to arm Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq.
The meeting of foreign ministers from the 28 EU nations was called by EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton and came after several European countries, including France and Germany, said they were prepared to supply weapons to the Peshmerga forces.
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