UN warns of an imminent massacre in the Iraqi town of Amerli

As Iraq continues to suffer from bouts of horrendous violence, the United Nations has warned that Sunni extremists from the Islamic State are about to commit yet another ethnic slaughter. The UN has called for world leaders to take immediate action to prevent this “human rights tragedy” in the northern Iraqi town of Amerli, where the inhabitants have been cut off from supplies by the Islamic State armies, going without food or water for two months.

“The situation of the people in Amerli is desperate and demands immediate action to prevent the possible massacre of its citizens,” the United Nations secretary general’s special representative for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, said in a statement. “I urge the Iraqi government to do all it can to relieve the siege and to ensure that the residents receive life-saving humanitarian assistance or are evacuated in a dignified manner.”

Mr. Mladenov was appalled by the “unspeakable” suffering that is occurring in the Iraqi town, and has demanded that the Shi’ite majority Iraqi government “relieve the siege” on Amerli. The town, which is about 100 miles north of Baghdad, is populated by around 20,000 Shi’ite Turkmen, a group that is considered heretical and therefore open to punishment under the religious beliefs of the Islamic State militants.

Read more about the story at The Guardian.