ISIS militant hoists flag in Sinjar
ISIS militant hoists flag in Sinjar@ Nynwa_news

With Islamic State militants taking control over large parts of the Sinjar town, the condition of thousands of Yazidis, especially the young children hiding from the ISIS in the mountains, is perilous.

On Sunday, when the Islamic State forced their way into the Sinjar borders, the Yazidis fled the town in fear.

The Sunni militant group sees the Yazidis as a community of devil worshipers. And fearing brutal executions, the minority sect fled to the neighboring mountains for safety.

It is estimated that over 40,000 people are trapped in the mountains between Sinjar and Tal Afar as both towns are now controlled by the Islamic State.

According to the UN children's agency, the families who fled the area are in immediate need of urgent assistance, including the 25,000-plus children stranded in the mountains. Local news agencies claim 40 Yezidi children died of hunger and thirst on the Shingal mountain on Monday.

"The children and the elderly cannot stand the lack of food and water and the aid doesn't reach all the families who have taken refugee on the mountain," the witness informed local news source Rudaw.

It has been over three days since the refugees have been stuck in the mountains without food and water.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) had reportedly coordinated with international agencies to deliver food and water to the refugees by air. However, help is yet to reach the needy.

"The reported deaths of 40 children from minority groups who were displaced from Sinjar city and district by armed violence are of extreme concern," Reuters quoted a UNICEF statement.

"According to official reports received by UNICEF, these children from the Yazidi minority died as a direct consequence of violence, displacement and dehydration over the past two days."

Meanwhile, the worried refugees have been pleading for help.

"After the peshmerga let us down and fled without fighting we couldn't stay because we know that we would need a miracle to avoid the Islamic State's brutality," Alyas Khudhir, a 33-year-old government employee with three children, told Reuters.

"I'm sleeping with my kids on rocks and food is scarce. I have collected some tree leafs to feed my kids if food runs out. We are slowly dying and nobody cares about us," he added.

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