Sinjar
Sinjar
| |
|---|---|
 Yezidi Temple on Mount Sinjar, 2004. | |
| Country |  Iraq |
| Governorate | Nineveh |
| District | Sinjar District |
| Elevation | 522 m (1,713 ft) |
| Population (2013) | |
| • Total | 450,000 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (GMT) |
Sinjar (Arabic: سنجار, Sinjar; Latin: Singara), also known as Shingal (Sorani Kurdish: شەنگال, Shengali: Şengal; Classical Syriac: ܫܝܓܳܪ, Shiggor) and formerly Sanjár,[1] is a town in Sinjar District, Nineveh Province, Iraq near Mount Sinjar. Its population in 2013 was estimated at 88,023.[2] The town is mainly inhabited by Yazidis with Arab and Assyrian minorities.
The important Chermera temple (meaning 40 Men) is found at the highest peak of the Sinjar Mountains.
History
Peutinger's map of the inhabited world known to the Roman geographers depicts Singara as located west of the Trogoditi. Persi. (Latin: Troglodytae Persiae, "Persian troglodytes") who inhabited the territory around Mount Sinjar. By the medieval Arabs, Sinjar was reckoned as part of the province of Diyār Rabīʿa, the "abode of the Rabīʿa" tribe. The nearby Plain of Sanjár (now the Nineveh Plains) was the site of the determination of the degree by al-Khwārizmī and other astronomers during the reign of the caliph al-Mamun.[1] The city boasted a famous Assyrian church in the 8th century.[3]
In 2007, several explosions set off by al-Qaeda in Iraq killed hundreds of Yazidis in Sinjar.[4]
In August 2014, after the Peshmerga was defeated or scared away, ISIL conquered Sinjar and perpetrated the Sinjar massacre killing 500-2,000 Yazidi civilians, according to Yazidi witnesses on 5 and 6 August, leading to a mass exodus of Yazidi residents, branded by the Islamic State as "devil worshipers".[5] The New York Times, unaware of or not trusting those reports from Yazidis themselves, reported on 7 August that "ISIS executed dozens of Yazidi men, and kept the dead men’s wives [alive] for unmarried jihadi fighters."[6]
On the night of 20 December 2014, Kurdish forces pushed into the city of Sinjar near the end of a massive offensive.[7] However, the Kurdish advance into the city was stalled, as they faced fierce resistance from the ISIL militants inside the southern half of the city.[8]
See also
- Sinjar massacre, August 2014
- December 2014 Sinjar offensive
- Persecution of Yazidis by ISIL
- Military intervention against ISIL
References
- ^ a b Abul Fazl-i-Ạllámí (1894), "Description of the Earth", The Áin I Akbarí, vol. Vol. III, Translated by H.S. Jarrett, Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press for the Asiatic Society of Bengal, p. 25–27
{{citation}}:|volume=has extra text (help). - ^ "Iraq: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population". World Gazetteer.[dead link]
- ^ A short history of Syriac literature. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
- ^ Shefler, Gil (August 7, 2014). "Islamic State accused of capturing Yazidi women and forcing them to convert, or else". Washington Post. Religion News Service. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ Loveday Morris (3 August 2014). "Islamic State seizes town of Sinjar, pushing out Kurds and sending Yazidis fleeing". Washington Post. WP website. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
- ^ Jihadists Rout Kurds in North and Seize Strategic Iraqi Dam. By Tim Arango. August 7, 2014
- ^ "Iraq's Kurds press offensive against Islamic State in Sinjar". DPA International. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ^ "Iraqi Kurds Advance Against Islamic State in Sinjar". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 December 2014.