Mosul (Iraq), Oct 22 (IANS/EFE) At least 27 militants of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group were killed during clashes with Sinjar Protection Forces in northern Iraq, a Sinjar Forces official said Wednesday.
The Sinjar Protection Forces managed to gain control over the two shrines of Sharaf al-Din and Amadin in Nineveh province, both of which are revered by the Yazidi religious minority.
Luqman Khansuri, commander in the Sinjar forces, said that four of his men were killed during the fighting late Tuesday and three others wounded.
The clashes broke out after the jihadis took control of the area, situated around two km from Mount Sinjar.
Khansuri said that the fighting lasted for more than three hours and was led by the al-Hababa tribe, one of the units in the Sinjar Protection Forces.
The jihadis threw explosives at the Amadin shrine before withdrawing, destroying its dome.
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Sharaf al-Din and Amadin are considered sacred places by the Yazidis in Sinjar, which are visited by thousands every year.
Mount Sinjar has been a sanctuary for the Yazidi minority since August when they fled the brutality of the IS jihadis who had seized Sinjar city.
More than 500,000 Yazidis and other minorities fled northern Iraq after the IS murdered several hundred people, according to estimates by the UN.
The Sunni IS considers Yazidis, Shia Muslims, Christians and other religious miniorities as infidels.
At the same time, the IS launched an offensive against Nineveh province and took control of its capital, Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.
--IANS/EFE
ab/vt