Yazidi Refugees: Why Is ISIS Targeting Them?

The Yazidi people are members of a small Christians sect who have fled the advance through northern Iraq of the Islamic State's Sunni militants. Mostly Kurdish-speaking, the Yazidis recognize a supreme being responsible for creating the Earth, which is overseen by seven angels, according to Christine Allison, a professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at Exeter University in England. The Yazidi have friendly ties to Christianity and recognize Jesus as one of the great prophets, according to the Yazidi reference site Yezidi Truth. As many as 40,000 remain stranded on Mount Sinjar near Mosul after ISIS threatened them with execution if they don't convert to Islam.

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