Leader Barzani presses Baghdad to deliver justice for Sinjar genocide victims
Shafaq News – Erbil (Updated at 11:55 a.m.)
On Sunday, Kurdish Leader Masoud Barzani urged the Iraqi government to fulfill its duties towards the victims of the Sinjar genocide, framing the 2014 ISIS assault as part of a broader campaign of persecution against the Kurdish people.
Marking the 11th anniversary of the massacre, Barzani condemned the attack on Yazidis as a crime that “exceeded all borders of cruelty,” describing it as an extension of the historical suffering endured by Kurds for their ethnic and religious identity.
The Kurdish leader urged Baghdad to provide reparations, emphasizing the need to compensate the victims of the Sinjar disaster and other genocides committed against the Kurdish people.
In turn, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani criticized Baghdad’s failure to implement the Sinjar agreement—meant to remove unauthorized armed groups and restore government control—warning that the lack of enforcement is fueling instability, obstructing reconstruction, and preventing the return of displaced residents.
He reaffirmed the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s commitment to locating the missing, rescuing those still held captive, and supporting survivors, calling on the Iraqi government to address the needs of the Yazidi community, including aid for the displaced and conditions for a dignified return.
“We continue to provide assistance to survivors and to those still living in displacement camps, as the volatile security conditions in Sinjar and surrounding areas have made their safe return impossible.”
On the anniversary of the occupation of Sinjar and the genocide of our Yazidi brothers and sisters by ISIS terrorists, we respectfully commemorate the martyrs of this massacre, which is a deep wound in the history of the Kurdish people and all of humanity.https://t.co/YoWZlEBmhw pic.twitter.com/WykRkGKCij
— Masrour Barzani (@masrourbarzani) August 3, 2025
The August 2014 ISIS offensive on Sinjar resulted in mass executions, abductions, and the enslavement of thousands of Yazidis. Kurdish Peshmerga forces retook the district in late 2015, and two years later, Iraqi forces declared the full liberation of Nineveh and the defeat of ISIS.
More than a decade on, many Yazidi families are still searching for missing relatives. As of August 2025, official figures estimate that nearly 2,600 women and girls remain unaccounted for. Recovery efforts are ongoing, with authorities continuing to exhume and identify remains from mass graves scattered across the region.
According to United Nations estimates, ISIS left behind more than 200 mass graves in Iraq, believed to contain up to 12,000 victims.
