Stoning leads to spate of slayings in northern Iraq

Monday’s Independent reports that a wave of violence in northern Iraq has been incited by the stoning of a 17 year-old Yazidi girl name Doaa in April. The stoning has led to several gruesome attacks including an incident on April 23 in which unidentified gunmen murdered a group of Yazidi factory workers who had been traveling on a bus from Mosul to Bashika.

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, roughly 800 Yazidi students at Mosul University have been forced to flee for security reasons. In addition, Yazidis, Christians, and Shiites face constant threats from Sunni insurgents who regard them as heretics. And many Christians have been ordered to convert to Islam, pay for protection or be murdered.

The Kurdistan Regional Government is now investigating the stoning incident.

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