The UN on Monday accused jihadists in Iraq of waging a campaign of “ethnic and religious cleansing”, as Syria said it was ready to work with the global community against “terrorism”.
The accusation by UN human rights chief Navi Pillay came as Kurdish peshmerga forces pushed back Islamic State (IS) jihadists in northern Iraq a day after the militants overran a key military airport in Syria.
Pillay said in a statement the IS reign of terror in Iraq against non-Arab ethnic groups and non-Sunni Muslims alike involved targeted killings, forced conversions, abductions, trafficking, slavery, sexual abuse and destruction of holy and cultural sites.
“They are systematically targeting men, women and children based on their ethnic, religious or sectarian affiliation and are ruthlessly carrying out widespread ethnic and religious cleansing in the areas under their control,” Pillay said.
“Such persecution would amount to crimes against humanity,” she added.
Iraq is struggling to regain significant parts of the country after the jihadists led a lightning militant offensive, seizing second city Mosul in June and sweeping through the country’s Sunni heartland, as security forces fled.
The IS militants have also taken control of swathes of neighbouring Syria contiguous to the land seized in Iraq, declaring an Islamic “caliphate” straddling both countries.
AFP
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