Yezidi survivor: They told us to say the prayer and convert to Islam; we chose the bullets

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Islamic State (ISIS) militants have ordered a group of 52 Yezidi men to convert to Islam, but when the imprisoned men refused to abandon their faith, the captors opened fire and killed all of the prisoners except for a 22-year-old man who miraculously survived the mass shooting.

 

"They thought I was dead. I was hit by two bullets in the back and there was blood on my entire body," says Abas Khider Silo while showing the bullet wounds on his body.

 

"I stayed in the village of Siba Shekh Khider until darkness arrived and then I left the area for the Syrian border," he told Rudaw TV.

 

Abbas says he vividly remembers the ISIS commander who ordered their round up that sunny August morning in their village. 

 

"His name was Talal Hamid Ali Qasim and I am ready to testify against him in any court," Abas says as he recounts that he ordered the men to say the prayer and convert to Islam.

 

"But we refused and then he ordered to kill us all."

 

Yezidi survivors have in the past said many of the non-Yezidi locals in Shingal had joined the ISIS squads and helped the militants to identify Yezidi families from Muslims.

 

"Our relation has deteriorated with all the neighbors who helped Daesh, but we feel gratitude towards those Muslim families who helped us and embraced us," he says.