Islamic State: Iraq minorities 'threatened with eradication'

Islamic State: Iraq minorities 'threatened with eradication', Islamic State militants are trying to eradicate Iraqi minority groups from large parts of the country, human rights organisations have warned.

A report details summary executions, forced conversions, rape and other abuses suffered by minorities.

Such acts are tantamount to war crimes, and in some cases, genocide, it argues.

Iraqi minorities face a "threat to their existence", said the Institute of International Law and Human Rights (IILHR), one of the groups involved.

Focusing on Iraq's Christian, Kaka'i, Shabak, Turkmen and Yazidi populations, the report looks at their plight after the fall of Mosul to IS in June 2014, a key point in the rise of a group that now controls swathes of the country.

Minorities were soon targeted, the report details. Christians were told to leave Mosul or face execution.

At least 160 Shabak were killed. Others were forced out and left their belongings behind, which turned them "into beggars", one Iraqi MP is quoted as saying..............Read More