- Mail on Sunday reporter Ian Birrell gives shocking despatch from Irbil
- Terrified residents see Islamic State (IS) jihadists capturing nearby towns
- Refugees speak of being offered sinister ultimatum by advancing horde
- IS has shocked the world again by capturing new swathes of Iraq
- Came as U.S. stepped in and started bombing IS artillery and convoys
- Meanwhile they surround Yazidi religious minority on barren mountainside
- Some of persecuted sect escaped today by helicopter and escort
Published:
23:30 GMT, 9 August 2014
|
Updated:
12:09 GMT, 10 August 2014
They
arrived bristling with heavy weapons and waving black flags from about a
dozen Humvees, seized from the Iraqi army and supplied originally by
the United States.
When
the terrified residents looked out of their windows, they saw that
Kosho, their traditional walled village in the mountains of northern
Iraq, had been surrounded by jihadists. More than 200 bearded militants
had besieged the village.
Then
their leader – a local man from Mosul rather than the foreigners who
make up more than a third of the ranks of the group now known as Islamic
State – offered them a chance to save their lives.
Scroll down for video
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Thousands of Yezidis are trapped in the Sinjar mountains as they try to escape from Islamic State (IS) forces
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Savagery: A man is crucified in northern Syria by Islamic State militants
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Fearing for their lives: Iraqis huddle around Ian Birrell as he reports on the advance of the Islamic State
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The Islamic State militants have already imposed a medieval-style Islamic caliphate on a slice of Iraq
‘He
told us that either we become Muslims or they would kill us all,’ said
Falah, mayor of the village made up mainly of members of the ancient
Yazidi sect. ‘We offered money but they would not accept it.’
The
deadline the people of Kosho have to meet is midday today. Since the
residents refuse to betray their faith, it is feared an entire village
of about 2,500 innocent people might be slaughtered in cold blood.
‘If
we did not have families, we would try to escape,’ the stoical Falah
told me yesterday. ‘But we have lots of women here and many children,
along with all the old men and women of the village. How could we leave
them?’
This
is thought to be the first time these blood-drenched fanatics – who
delight in boasting of their barbarism and posting sickening murder
videos on social media – have threatened to wipe out an entire village.
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Under fire: Kurdish aid helicopters ran the risk of being shot out of the sky while delivering vital supplies
Even
by their own chilling standards, re-drawing the Middle East map with a
rampage of rape, beheadings and revolting crucifixions, this marks a new
low.
It
comes at the end of a week during which the fanatics of Islamic State
–formerly the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) – shocked the
world again by advancing further into Iraq, prompting the US to renew
military operations there for the first time since 2011.
In other developments yesterday:
- As
U.S. air strikes continued, President Obama warned he will not allow
jihadists to carve out a ‘caliphate’ straddling Syria and Iraq;
- Islamic State fanatics kidnapped hundreds of Yazidi women below the age of 35;
- Hundreds
of desperate refugees trapped on Mount Sinjar scrambled to board a
single helicopter laden with food and water – while 5,000 escaped down a
new ‘safe’ route;
- The UK sent two aircraft to help with the relief operation and promised further air-drops;
- IS
seized control of the vital Mosul Dam which supplies water and power to
millions of Iraqis. There were fears its destruction would unleash a
65ft wave that would overwhelm Mosul and even cause flooding in Baghdad.
The
Islamic State militants have already imposed a medieval-style Islamic
caliphate on a slice of Iraq and Syria the size of Britain after seizing
Mosul, Iraq’s second biggest city, in June.
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Desperate masses: Yazidi people stranded in the Sinjar mountains rush towards a helicopter laden with supplies
Now,
having captured first the strategic city of Sinjar, then a string of
other towns and the country’s largest hydroelectric dam, they are just
25 miles from Irbil.
This
thriving city filled with Western oil firms is the capital of Iraqi
Kurdistan, the solitary success story following the disastrous US-led
invasion of 2003.
As
US jets started bombing again to protect Irbil, I found its churches,
construction sites and parks packed with thousands of Christians and
Yazidis fleeing the feared Islamists.
Thousands
more are trapped in searing heat on parched mountains to the west. The
latest advance began a week ago when shots were heard in Sinjar late at
night.
Four
hours later, the feared Kurdish peshmerga forces retreated, much to
everyone’s surprise – followed by 150,000 residents fleeing for their
lives.
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