Yazidis have 'protectors' in Iraq, but question safety

Dana Taib Menmy

May 13, 2019

Yazidi's women attend a ceremony at Lilash Temple to commemorate the death of women who were killed by Islamic State militants, during the International Women Day, in Shikhan north of Iraq March 8, 2019. REUTERS/Ari Jalal - RC119D479580 — Yazidi women attend a ceremony at Lilash Temple to commemorate the death of women who were killed by Islamic State militants, during International Women's Day, Shikhan, Iraq, March 8, 2019. — REUTERS/Ari Jalal

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SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq — Nearly five years after the Yazidi-majority town of Sinjar was recaptured from the Islamic State (IS), conflicts among opposing forces in the town hinder rehabilitation efforts and the return of internally displaced persons, and set the stage for a looming battle.

IS militants seized Sinjar, near Iraq’s northwestern border with Syria, in 2014. They targeted its Yazidi majority in a genocidal campaign of killing, rape, abduction and enslavement. In November 2015, the extremist group was expelled from Sinjar in an operation launched by many forces.