Scores of Iraqi minorities seek shelter from Islamic State's advance
Reuters
2014-08-09
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Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq.
It's to this desert mountain top that tens of thousands of minority Yazidis have fled -- and now scramble for humanitarian aid.
Sunni militants from the Islamic State had ordered them to convert -- or die.
The militants have beheaded and crucified some of their captives, in their drive to eradicate unbelievers and other minorities like Christians.
Some 4,000 Christians from a nearby province have fled the fighting.
They've taken refuge at this church in central Arbil, the horror still fresh in their minds.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED CHRISTIAN WOMAN, ANETA, SAYING:
"(crying). We don't need anything, we just need a solution. We want to return to our homes and die there. Let them kill us, or we want a solution. The children are dying."
But church walls can't guarantee their safety.
The militants have advanced to only a half hour's drive from Arbil.
The U.S. has called the persecution of these mi
It's to this desert mountain top that tens of thousands of minority Yazidis have fled -- and now scramble for humanitarian aid.
Sunni militants from the Islamic State had ordered them to convert -- or die.
The militants have beheaded and crucified some of their captives, in their drive to eradicate unbelievers and other minorities like Christians.
Some 4,000 Christians from a nearby province have fled the fighting.
They've taken refuge at this church in central Arbil, the horror still fresh in their minds.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED CHRISTIAN WOMAN, ANETA, SAYING:
"(crying). We don't need anything, we just need a solution. We want to return to our homes and die there. Let them kill us, or we want a solution. The children are dying."
But church walls can't guarantee their safety.
The militants have advanced to only a half hour's drive from Arbil.
The U.S. has called the persecution of these mi
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