ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- In Shariya camp near the Kurdish city of Duhok, the hot topic of the day among Yezidi residents is the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: the Islamic State (ISIS) leader who ordered a genocide against them in 2014.
“We were delighted with the news. I wish I had been able, like in the past, to have a feast. It was like a feast for us,” an elderly Yezidi told Rudaw.
The Yezidis, a Kurdish-speaking ethno-religious minority, have lived in IDP camps across the Kurdistan Region since August 2014, when ISIS launched a genocidal offensive into their homeland of Shingal, close to the Iraqi-Syrian border.
Labelled as “devil worshippers” by ISIS, Yezidi men were rounded up, killed en-masse, and buried in mass graves, more than 70 of which have been discovered so far. Women and children were sold into sexual slavery, while elderly women viewed as too old to be “profitable” as slaves were also murdered.
Yezidi children were taken to schools to be trained on ISIS’ extremist ideology, where they were also trained to become the “cubs of the caliphate”, a group of ISIS child soldiers.
The Yezidi community has been living in camps for over five years, with no prospect of return to Shingal. Numbering half a million in their homeland prior to 2014, over 300,000 now live in camps. Disputed between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi government, the presence of a host of armed groups, including Kurdistan Workers Party affiliates, has prevented the Shingal area from being rebuilt.
It was in these camps that Yezidis on Sunday, October 27, received the news that Baghdadi was dead after he blew himself up after being cornered in a US-led nighttime raid in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib.
“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was the enemy of God. He had no religion, faith, or the afterlife. It is a shame he died on the religion of Mohammed,” one man told Rudaw.
“We hope to God to return to our homes and for their remnants to disappear. We hope to God that no ISIS remnants remain,” added the man, who added that ISIS is not yet eliminated.
“We were very delighted. God exacted justice for us and everyone else,” said another Yezidi man, playing cards.
“God willing, [Daesh] won’t remain and we will return to our homes,” he added, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
“If our homes are rebuilt, then we will return,” said another Yezidi man. “They killed so many people, why wouldn’t we be happy?” he argued.
Wih ISIS gone, Yezidis will be able to enjoy life again, he added.
However, not everyone believes that the terror group will be eradicated.
“I don’t believe they [ISIS] are gone. They will remain,” one man said grimly.
US President Donald Trump, in his Sunday statement on the killing of Baghdadi, mentioned the community when discussing the plight of all those who have suffered under ISIS.
“The shocking publicized murder of a Jordanian pilot who was burned alive in a cage for all to see, and the execution of Christians in Libya and Egypt, as well as the genocidal mass murder of Yazidis, rank ISIS among the most depraved organizations in history,” Trump said.
Yezidi NGOs also reacted positively to Baghdadi’s death, but expressed a desire for justice.
“I hoped that Baghdadi would be captured to face his countless victims, including victims of Yezidi genocide, in a court. There is so much that need to be told and exposed, including, who funded them? Who enabled them?” Murad Ismael, a Yezidi activist, said in a Sunday tweet.
The Free Yezidi Foundation, in a Sunday statement, also showed appreciation for the death of Baghdad, calling Baghdadi a “rapist”, but hoped Baghdad had been captured alive to “answer for his crimes” in a court of law.
The death of Baghdadi is a blow to ISIS, the Yezidi organization said. “However, it is important to remember that even though Baghdadi is dead, it would be a dangerous and historic mistake to consider the ISIS organization, its ideology, or the tens of thousands of ISIS male and female members, supporters, detained fighters, and sleeper cells no longer a threat,” added the Yezidi rights group.
“Complacency is not a good option, We cannot allow an ISIS 2.0,” it added.
Even the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has liberated many Yezidi women and children from ISIS in its US-backed anti-ISIS operations across Syria, said the death of Baghdadi, which it claimed to have provided the intelligence for, was “vengeance” for Yezidi women.
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