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- The haunting photographs of Yazidi families were taken close to the holy Lalesh temple in Iraq’s Nineveh province<\/font><\/b><\/li>\n
- Although the temple has been secured by the Kurdish Peshmerga, the fate of many of the families is unknown<\/font><\/b><\/li>\n
- Yazidis, wherever they currently live, must travel to the temple at least once during their lifetimes<\/p>\n
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- Islamic State jihadis have blazed a trail of destruction through the area and have massacred thousands<\/p>\n
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- An estimated 140,000 are trapped on top of Mount Sinjar and are surrounded by bloodthirsty jihadi fighters<\/font><\/b><\/li>\n
- Lalesh is the centre of the 6,000-year-old Yazidi religion and is home to an ancient temple complex<\/font><\/b><\/li>\n
- Yazidis worship a deity called the Peacock Angel but are considered to be devil-worshippers by ISIS<\/p>\n
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Published:<\/span> 14:26 BST, 12 August 2014 <\/span> | Updated:<\/span> 21:16 BST, 12 August 2014 <\/span> <\/p>\n
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<li data-anchor="tl" data-twitter-status=" website via @Femail" data-formatted-headline="Haunting photos offer a rare glimpse of the Yazidi way of life" data-hide-email="true" data-article-id="2722800" data-article-channel-follow-button="Femail" data-is-channel="false" id="shareLinkTop" class="share-icons" data-placement="top" website <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n
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adverts.addToArray(“pos”:”leader_wide”)Advertisement<\/span><\/span><\/div>\nPlaying with their children, worshipping in beautifully decorated shrines and relaxing with their families, the happy smiles of Iraq’s Yazidi people betray no hint of the disaster that would befall them just months after these photos were taken.<\/font><\/p>\n
Many of the families pictured live in Iraq’s Nineveh province and are thought to have fled to Mount Sinjar, where they are currently awaiting rescue and surviving on food parachuted in by British, American<\/a> and successful unique lacquer paintings<\/a> Kurdish forces.<\/font><\/p>\n
Others have fallen victim to the murderous Islamic State jihadis who currently occupy their home region and, Cuu Huyen worship Paintings to worship the dead ancestors<\/a> just yesterday, were reported to have massacred 500 men, women and successful unique lacquer paintings<\/a> children.<\/font><\/p>\n
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Threatened by IS: A pair of little girls play in front of a painting depicting the lighting of holy fire during a visit to the Yazidi temple in Lalesh<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\nInnocent: A pair of Yazidi twin girls cuddle up to their pet sheep (left) while, right, a little girl poses for Paintings to worship the dead ancestors<\/a> a photo in the temple.The fate of all three is currently unknown<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n‘They are not Muslims but they are are seen by Islamic State terrorists as devil-worshippers and heretical Muslims,’ explains Eric Lafforgue, the photographer behind the haunting images.<\/font><\/p>\n
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- Although the temple has been secured by the Kurdish Peshmerga, the fate of many of the families is unknown<\/font><\/b><\/li>\n