The Islamic State has returned dozens of detained Yazidi families back to their houses located in the district of Sinjar in the Nineveh province of northern Iraq, in a move which was described by one Yazidi commander as a "frightening" development because of the likelihood that they would be used as human shields, Anadolu news agency reported.
Nawaf Khaddida Sinjari, the commander of a Yazidi combat patrol, told Anadolu that: "We have received information from several sources confirming that Islamic State terrorist gangs have brought more than 80 Yazidi families who had previously been detained in the areas south of Mosul back to the Sinjar area."
He added, "The majority of them are women and children under the age of 12 years."
Nawaf, who is hiding with his fighters on Sinjar mountain, described such a step as "frightening", saying that "it is very likely that the Islamic State wants to use those families as human shields after the violent aerial bombardment and the strikes that have targeted the organisation in the Rabia' area, 120 kilometres west of Mosul over the past three days, which resulted in the expulsion of Islamic State remnants from the area."
The terrorist organisation invaded the Sinjar district, 124 kilometres west of Mosul, on 3 August, an area that is inhabited by a majority of Yazidi Kurds.
Anadolu cited Yazidi activists who said that the Islamic State has committed heinous crimes, including the murder and the kidnapping and captivity of thousands of Yazidi civilians.
It is usually not possible to get an official comment from the Islamic State because of the restrictions imposed by the organisation in dealing with the media.
The Yazidis are a religious group, most of whose members live near Mosul and the Sinjar mountain region in Iraq. Estimated to number about 600,000, smaller groups of Yazidis live in Turkey, Syria, Iran, Georgia and Armenia.
According to researchers, the Yazidi religion is one of the ancient Kurdish religions, with the Kurdish language used in all its rituals and religious rites.
The international US-led coalition, which involves many European and Arab countries, launched air strikes on Islamic State camps in Syria and Iraq in an attempt to curtail its progress into wider areas of these two countries.
Since the beginning of this year, forces from the Iraqi army have been fighting fierce battles against armed groups, led by the Islamic State organisation, in most areas of the Anbar province, which has a Sunni majority. Those battles became even tougher about two months ago after armed groups seized control of the western districts of the county, including 'Ana, Rawa, Al-Qai'm and Al-Retba, in addition to the province's eastern regions of Falluja and Al-Karma, as well as parts of the city of Ramadi.
The turmoil prevails in the areas of the north and west of Iraq after the Islamic State, along with other militias allied with it, took over large parts of the Ninoi province in the north on 10 June 2014, after the withdrawal of the Iraqi army from the area without any resistance, leaving large quantities of weapons and gear behind.
The same scenario happened in other provinces in the north of Iraq. A few months ago, this also happened in the cities of Anbar province in the west of the country.
The Iraqi forces, backed by armed allied groups as well as the Peshmerga forces, the Kurdish army of northern Iraq, have since managed to kick out the militants and regain control of a number of cities and towns after heavy fighting over the past few weeks.
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