|
Kurdish Peshmerga forces deployed to
Kurdish Yazidis area in northwestern Iraq
16.8.2007
|
|
|
|
August
16, 2007
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- A
340-strong Kurdish Peshmerga force was sent to
northwestern Iraq's district of Sinjar to restore
security and provide protection to the afflicted
community, an official Peshmerga source said on
Thursday.
"The force will remain in the district until the
security situation is secure," Peshmerga Commander
Maj. Gen. Aziz Waizy said.
Four truck bombs were detonated on Tuesday evening
in Kar Izir area, 35 km south of Sinjar, and at the
Siba Sheikh Khidr housing compound, killing and
injuring more than 500 people.
In the aftermath of the attacks, Iraq's Kurdistan
President Massoud Barzani called on Peshmerga forces
and the Iraqi Ministry of Interior
to provide protection for
Kurdish minorities and accused a
number of countries in the region of being behind
the attacks The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
announced on Thursday a day of mourning for the
victims of the blasts.
Sinjar district, 120 km to the northwest of Mosul,
is inhabited by the Kurdish Yazidis, a religious
sect whose followers are generally situated in
northern Iraq. Some 350,000 Yazidis live in villages
around Mosul, 405 km north of Baghdad, near the
border with Kurdistan autonomous region (Iraq).
Yazidis are primarily ethnic Kurds and most live
near Mosul, with smaller communities in Armenia,
Georgia, Iran, Russia, Syria, and Turkey. They
number around 500,000 individuals in total, but
estimates of their population size vary, partially
due to the Yazidi tradition of secrecy about their
religious beliefs.
Since 1991, the Kurds of Iraq achieved self-rule in
part of the country. Kurdistan region has all the
trappings of an independent state -- its own
constitution, its own parliament, its own flag, its
own army, its own border with the rest of Iraq, its
own border patrol, its own national anthem, its own
education system, even its own stamp inked into the
passports of visitors.
VOI
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 