Yazidi Emir urges Iraqi government to unearth mass grave in Tal Afar

Shafaq News/ Haider Tahseen Saeed, Emir of the Yazidis in Iraq and the world, called on the Iraqi government on Wednesday to pay attention to opening the mass grave of "Bir Alo Antar" in Tal Afar district.

In a statement released earlier today, the media office of the Yazidi Spiritual Council said that the Emir "called on the Iraqi government and the competent official institutions to pay more attention to opening the mass grave (Bir Alo Antar) in Tal Afar district."

Saeed stressed, according to the statement, that "we are confident, according to the information available from the survivors, that hundreds of bodies of Yazidi victims are in this grave."

He added that "the specialized committees must carefully take care of exhuming the bodies and expediting DNA tests to determine the fate of the kidnapped Yazidi men and women."

The Emir pointed out that "exhuming the bodies and revealing the fate of the kidnapped men and women is one of the pillars of achieving justice for the victims and evidence to prove the genocide of the Yazidis in Sinjar."

He explained that "it is important to open the mass graves of the victims of the terrorist ISIS and to adhere to international standards in this field in order to ensure the rights of all victims, and for the whole world to know about the heinous crimes committed by the terrorist ISIS against civilians and innocent Yazidis."

The Yazidi minority in Iraq has suffered greatly at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group. In 2014, ISIS launched a brutal campaign against the Yazidis, killing thousands and enslaving many more.

The Yazidis are an ethnoreligious minority group who have lived in the Sinjar region of northern Iraq for centuries. They have a unique religious faith that blends elements of Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam.

ISIS considers the Yazidis to be heretics and has subjected them to systematic persecution. The group has carried out mass killings, kidnappings, and rapes against the Yazidis.

The Yazidi community is still struggling to recover from the atrocities of IS. Many Yazidis remain displaced from their homes, and thousands of women and girls are still missing or held captive.

The Iraqi government has pledged to support the Yazidis and bring the perpetrators of crimes against them to justice. However, the Yazidi community continues to face challenges, including a lack of security and access to basic services.