Arabs living in Sinjar in Iraq's Nineveh province say groups of heavily armed Yazidis have made four raids on the villages over the past two weeks, leaving 21 people dead and a further 17 missing.

Yazidis, whose ancient religion has elements of Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam, suffered grievously after ISIS' rapid offensive last year. Hundreds were killed and thousands captured, enslaved and raped by the Sunni Muslim militants, who consider Yazidis devil worshippers. 

Yazidis returning to their homes in Sinjar are uncovering one mass grave after another in the area - evidence of ISIS rule there from last August until its fighters were driven out late last year.

Now some Yazidis are striking back. 

More than a dozen Sunni Arab residents have told journalists that armed groups of Yazidis raided four of their villages in Sinjar two weeks ago, killing at least 21 people. A further 17 went missing.

'It was an act of revenge by the Yazidis,' said 41-year-old Dhafer Ali Hussein from Sibaya, one of the affected villages. 

'The aim is to expel Arabs from the area so that only Yazidis remain: they want to change the map.'

The identity of the Yazidi assailants is unclear because there are several competing forces fighting ISIS in Sinjar, with them all blaming each other for the raids..

But what is certain is that the reprisals expose how ISIS; incursion created divisions between communities that had coexisted for decades, turning one village against another and making enemies of former friends. 

They also show the risk of similar violence when other groups displaced by ISIS, such as Shi'ite Turkmen and Shabak, Christians and Kakais, are able to return home.

Residents of Sibaya, now staying in another village about 28 miles away, say they helped Yazidis escape in August and stashed away their belongings for safekeeping, even though the jihadis punished those who were found doing so.

But Yazidis from the nearby Gohbal settlement say Arabs in the surrounding villages sided with ISIS looting their possessions and actively participating in what they call attempted genocide.

Sunni residents admitted several men from Sibaya had joined the militants but said they were killed or fled to Syria when Kurdish peshmerga forces drove Islamic State from the area in December.

After regaining control, the peshmerga confiscated weapons from Arab villagers, who began to receive threats from Yazidis, culminating in the attack on Sibaya and Chiri on January 25.

The following day, Yazidi gunmen plundered and torched the nearby Arab villages of Khazuga and Sayer, whose residents had already fled. Peshmerga intervened to prevent further attacks.

(dailymail.co.uk)