DHAKA: Islamic State militants have killed at least 500 members of Iraq’s Yazidi ethnic minority during their offensive in the north.

Iraq’s human rights minister told media on Sunday, reports NDTV.

Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said the Sunni militants had also buried alive some of their victims, including women and children. Some 300 women were kidnapped as slaves, he added.

‘We have striking evidence obtained from Yazidis fleeing Sinjar and some who escaped death, and also crime scene images that show indisputably that the gangs of the Islamic States have executed at least 500 Yazidis after seizing Sinjar,’ Sudani told media.

Sinjar is the ancient home of the Yazidis, one of the towns captured by the Sunni militants who view the community as ‘devil worshipers’.

‘Some of the victims, including women and children were buried alive in scattered mass graves in and around Sinjar,’ Sudani said.

The Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, has prompted tens of thousands of Yazidis and Christians to flee for their lives during their push to within a 30-minute drive of the Kurdish regional capital Arbil.

The Yazidis, followers of an ancient religion derived from Zoroastrianism, are spread over northern Iraq and are part of the country’s Kurdish minority.

BDST: 1746 HRS, AUG 10, 2014