Aleppo fighting raises new Yazidi genocide fears
Shafaq News– Duhok
Yazidis in the Syrian city of Aleppo are facing a severe humanitarian crisis, the spiritual leader of the Yazidi community, Mir Hazem Tahseen Beg, warned on Thursday, describing current conditions as among the worst the community has endured there.
In a statement, Tahseen Beg said Yazidi Kurds remaining in Aleppo are enduring deteriorating security, shortages of basic services, and daily struggles to survive, urging the international community to intervene urgently to protect civilians and deliver humanitarian assistance.
He cautioned that continued fighting without serious action could lead to a new catastrophe reminiscent of the 2014 atrocities in Iraq’s Sinjar, when ISIS overran the district, committing genocide. They kidnapped thousands of Yazidis, subjecting them to torture, enslavement, and murder. Yazidi villages were destroyed, homes burned, and property looted, displacing tens of thousands.
Read more: A decade of suffering: Yazidis still seeking justice after ISIS atrocities
At least eight civilians were killed and 57 wounded over the past three days in shelling and drone attacks on the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods of Aleppo, according to the city’s Internal Security Forces (Asayish). Mutual accusations between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) persist as violence in Aleppo increasingly affects both sides.
