Yazidi fighters 'kill Iraqi Arabs in revenge attacks'

Yazidi fighters have been blamed for deadly attacks on Arabs in Nineveh, Iraq, in apparent revenge for the Islamic State group's massacre of Yazidis last year.

Atheel al-Nujaifi, the governor of Iraq's Nineveh province, has called on the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government to prevent further attacks following the reports earlier this week.

Two witnesses told al-Araby al-Jadeed of attacks in Sanuni, north of Mount Sinjar in Nineveh province.

Jawad Matar al-Jahishi said dozens of machine gun-equipped trucks arrived on the outskirts of his village of Sibaya early on Sunday and opened fire. He said 19 of his relatives died, a similar number were injured, and up to 44 others had been abducted.

He added that the men had thick moustaches and beards, distinguishing features of Yazidis.

Jahishi's cousin, who identified himself as Abu Bilal, said that the villages of nearby al-Jary, Rajm al-Abd, Umm al-Khiyari, Khalaf al-Sayir and Umm al-Danabik were also burned and looted.

Abu Bilal said the fighters were being led by three Yazidi men seeking revenge for IS attacks on their people last July.

He said local tribes had mobilised to stop futher attacks but they were outgunned.

Abu Bilal said the fighters were being led by three Yazidi men seeking revenge for IS attacks on their people last July.

Tens of thousands of Yazidis were driven out of Sinjar last year by the IS group, who massacred men who refused to convert to Islam and enslaved women. The crisis led to the first operations by a US-led coalition in Iraq.

Yazidis, backed by Kurdish troops, have since organised and fought back against the IS group, which still controls large areas of nothern Iraq.

The attacks late last week and the identity of the attackers could not be verified by al-Araby. However, other witnesses have given similar reports to other media, and blamed them on Yazidis.

Nujaifi, Nineveh's governor, called on Kurdish leaders and Iraq's central government to enforce the law equally on all groups in the area. He urged tribesmen to band together and gave them permission to defend themselves.

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.