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7 Things You Need To Know About Iraq's Yazidi People And Their Deadly Situation

Who Are The Yazidis?
Louise Ridley
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Over 4,000 of Iraq’s Kurdish Yazidi community are at risk of death, after being driven onto a mountaintop for fear of being massacred by the radical Islamic State (the moment formerly known as ISIS).

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The Yazidis, who follow an ancient religion, have fled to Mount Sinjar from their nearby villages and are afraid to return as they could be slaughtered by the Islamic extremists who control Northern Iraq.

They have no fresh water and are on the mountain in sweltering summer heat, and have begun to die of thirst despite humanitarian agencies trying to drop bottled water on the mountainside.

Iraqi MP Vian Dakhil told CNN yesterday that 70 children had already died of thirst, and more than 500 men had been slaughtered.

Who are the Yazidis?
They follow a 4,000 year-old religion(01 of07)
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The Yazidis are a Kurdish community who follow an ancient religion which seems to mix beliefs and practices from many faiths. In some ways it is similar to the Persian beliefs of Zoroastrianism, such as the practice of facing the sun when they pray, but they Yazidis also practice baptism like Christians. (credit:SAFIN HAMED via Getty Images)
They have been called "devil-worshippers"(02 of07)
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Yazidis worship Melek Taus, the peacock angel, who is a "fallen angel" who was cast into hell by God.As a result, the have often been targeted by jihadists who call them 'devil-worshipers'. (credit:SAFIN HAMED via Getty Images)
There are few Yazidis remaining(03 of07)
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Yazidis once lived across the lands known as Persia, but have been driven from their homelands. Most Yazidi people live in Northern Iraq, and there are less than a million of them in the world: between 400,000 and 800,000. (credit:SAFIN HAMED via Getty Images)
They claim to have survived 72 genocides(04 of07)
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Persecuted for their beliefs and driven from their homes, the Yazidis have had a long history of suffering. (credit:SAFIN HAMED via Getty Images)
Women's hair must be kept long(05 of07)
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The Yazidi women are forbidden from cutting their hair. Marriage is also forbidden in April. (credit:SAFIN HAMED via Getty Images)
They avoid wearing dark blue (06 of07)
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The colour - that of the peacock - is thought to be "too holy". Other traditions include not eating lettuce and regarding some trees as sacred. (credit:SAFIN HAMED via Getty Images)
Yazidism is an oral tradition(07 of07)
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Stories and rules are passed down through generations orally. Yazidis do have one holy book, the Black Book, but some believe this was stolen by the British in colonial times. (credit:SAFIN HAMED via Getty Images)

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