10,000 Yezidis rescued through safe corridor, as ISIL militants 'fire on aid helicopters'

Iraqi Kurdish security forces have rescued a total of 10,000 Yezidi people so far from Mount Sinjar near Mosul in northern Iraq, Anadolu Agency reported, citing a local official.

Meanwhile, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants fired on the helicopters that carried humanitarian aid to Yezidis, also known as Ezidis, according to a Rudaw report.

Sinjar District Governor told during a press conference on August 9 that they are using a safe corridor jointly set up by Iraqi Kurdish security forces, or Peshmarga, and YPG, the Popular Protection Units that were set up by Syrian Kurds, to evacute the Yezidi people from Mount Sinjar in Iraq and move them to Syria.

Mount Sinjar, situated in northwest Iraq near the border with Syria, has been home to thousands of Yezidis, Kurdish ethno-religious community in northern Iraq, who have fled to safety in fear of being massacred by ISIL militants who consider them "devil-worshippers."

The governor said the rescue efforts went well but added that they need more means to accelerate the evacuation of the stranded Yezidis, dozens of whom have died of thirst and heat on the mountain surrounded by militants.

"We are transferring the rescued Yezidis to Syria via a safe corridor. Then we will take them to Zakho city in the Duhok province of the Kurdish autonomous region," he added.

According to the UN figures released before the latest operation, approximately 50,000 Yezidis, half of them children, were in the region.

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