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Conflicts

Aftermath of a genocide

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June 24, 2018

On August 3, 2014, some 50,000 Yazidis fled the Islamic State's massacres onto Mount Sinjar. Many haven't left the mountain since then for fear of their Muslim former neighbors.

Kocher and her children were held captive by the Islamic State terrorist group. They endured rape, losing their homes and being sold into slavery. Kocher's husband Mahmood joined the armed resistance against IS. Since Kocher's rescue, the family has been living on Mount Sinjar, the sacred mountain of the Yazidis. Now, they're afraid to return to their home village, knowing some of their Muslim former neighbors aided IS. The family lives in tents on the mountaintop. Three of their children are still missing. Mahmood keeps a Kalashnikov in his cabinet, just in case he has to defend himself against another attack. "It will never happen again," he says. A report by Birgitta Schuelke and Sandra Petersmann

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