Turkish-backed groups ethnically cleanse Yazidis in Afrin – Nadia Murad

North-Press Agency 

In a tweet on Friday, Yazidi activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad said that Turkish-backed armed opposition groups "carry out ethnic cleansing" against Yazidis in Afrin, northwestern Syria.

Murad added that these groups "kidnap women, kill civilians, and silently destroy shrines," noting "the failure of the international community to draw attention to these crimes."

Human rights organizations accuse these groups of systematically committing violations against Yazidis in Afrin. 

On April 25th, the "Ezdina" Foundation (a Yazidi media and human rights foundation) published video footage reportedly showing the destruction of the dome of the Sheikh Ali Yazidi shrine in the village of Basofan in Afrin, adding that most Yazidi shrines in Afrin were looted or vandalized.