Ruins in the city of Sinjar Scenes from the now destroyed city of Sinjar which was recently liberated from ISIL militants who originally captured the...
{"Image ImageDescription": "SINJAR, IRAQ - FEBRUARY 26: Ruins in the city of Sinjar. Scenes from the now destroyed city of Sinjar, which was recently liberated from ISIL militants who originally captured the city on August 2014. Following the withdrawal of the Kurdish Peshmerga, ISIL perpetrated the Sinjar massacre, killing 2,000 Yazidi men and taking Yazidi women into slavery, leading to a mass exodus of Yazidi residents. According to a UN report, 5,000 Yazidi civilians were killed during ISIL's August offensive. On 13 November 2015, a day after launching a major second offensive, Kurdish forces and Yazidi militias backed by US airstrikes, entered the city and fully regained its control from ISIS. Following the recapture, in nearby hamlet of Solagh, east of Sinjar city, Kurdish forces found a mass grave with the remains of at least 78 Yazidi women from Kocho village believed to be executed by ISIL militants. (Photo by Giles Clarke/Getty Images)", "Image Copyright": "2016 Giles Clarke"}