Schematic route: only the departure from the mountain, the passage through Syria and the return via Peshkhabour are established.

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Relief: SRTM (AWS Terrain Tiles) · Borders and rivers: Natural Earth · Relief exaggerated ×3

Remembrance · Yazidi genocide

Sinjar,
August 2014

On 3 August 2014, the Islamic State group (ISIS) attacked the Yazidis of Sinjar, in northern Iraq. This map follows events place by place, then what came after, up to the present day.

This page deals with mass violence. It shows no photographs and names no victims, except Nadia Murad, who chose to speak out publicly. Every fact comes with its sources; figures, often estimates, are presented as such.

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Before 3 August 2014

Şingal, land of the Yazidis

The district of Sinjar (Şingal), in north-western Iraq, lies at the foot of an arid mountain around a hundred kilometres long, near the Syrian border. It was home to the majority of the world’s Yazidis, alongside Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and Christians. Persecuted many times over, the Yazidis call the 2014 attack the 74th firman. In June 2014, the Islamic State takes Mosul, then Tal Afar: Sinjar is caught between its territories in Iraq and in Syria.

≈ 308,000inhabitants of Sinjar district in 2014 (OCHA, cited by the UN)

Sources

Level of certainty: verified (dates); estimate (population)

The facts and how well they are established

Mosul taken on 10 June 2014; Tal Afar: town taken around 16 June, airport on 23 June 2014 (the date used by UNAMI) (verified (Mosul); disputed (Tal Afar); UNAMI/OHCHR 2016; secondary sources (Wikipedia, GlobalSecurity 23/06/2014) for mid-June)
Population of Sinjar district in 2014: 308,315 according to OCHA (cited by UNAMI), mostly Yazidi; the UN Commission of Inquiry speaks of a Yazidi community of about 400,000 people (estimate; OCHA, cited by UNAMI/OHCHR 2016)
Yazidi community of the region of about 400,000 people (estimate; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016; Cetorelli et al. 2017)
Sinjar was home to the majority of the world’s Yazidis (consensus; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 1 (“home to the majority of the world’s Yazidis”); Cetorelli & Ashraph 2019)
Communities of the district: Yazidis, Sunni and Shia Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, Christians (verified; Cetorelli & Ashraph 2019, p. 8)
2014, the “74th firman” in Yazidi memory (firmans are the successive persecutions) (consensus; Community usage (Wikipedia “Yazidi genocide”, freeyezidi.org); the Commission of Inquiry, § 19, refers to cycles of persecution since the Ottoman Empire without the number 74)

Sources

3 August 2014

The attack of 3 August

In the early hours of 3 August, the Islamic State attacks from Mosul, Tal Afar and north-eastern Syria. The Kurdish Peshmerga, the only security force on the ground, withdraw; according to the UN Commission of Inquiry, the inhabitants are not warned. Armed Yazidis try to slow the advance, notably at Siba Sheikh Khidir, so that families can flee. Those who could not reach Iraqi Kurdistan or the mountain are captured or killed. The Islamic State targets the Yazidis because of their religion, which it regards as unbelief.

Sources

Level of certainty: verified (date, origin of the attack, withdrawal); disputed (reasons for and responsibility for the withdrawal)

The facts and how well they are established

Attack on 3 August 2014 from Mosul, Tal Afar and north-eastern Syria (verified; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 23)
The Peshmerga were the only security force present and withdrew without the population being informed (verified; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 21, 24, 185; UNAMI 2016)
Reasons for the withdrawal (orders, negligence, lack of ammunition) (disputed; Middle East Eye, 12/02/2015: the Kurdistan Region Presidency refers those responsible to a commission of inquiry; no findings found)
Limited defence of a few villages (Gir Zerik, Siba Sheikh Khidir) by armed Yazidis (verified; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 25)
No evacuation order is given (verified; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 24)
The Yazidis are attacked “because they were Yazidis” (§ 159), “solely because ISIS regarded them as infidels” (§ 169); for ISIS, Yazidis cannot live as such in its “caliphate” because they are not “People of the Book” (§ 162) (verified; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, A/HRC/32/CRP.2, § 1, 159, 162 and 169)

Sources

Aug. – Dec. 2014

The siege of the mountain

Tens of thousands of Yazidis take refuge on Mount Sinjar, surrounded from 4 August: 35,000 to 50,000 people according to the UN, with no water or shelter, in temperatures above 40 °C. On 7 August, Barack Obama announces an intervention “to prevent a potential act of genocide”. On the 8th, the Iraqi and US air forces drop food and water, joined by the United Kingdom, France and Australia; air strikes target the area around the mountain from the 9th. About 1,700 people die there. Thousands remain under siege until December.

35,000–50,000people trapped on the mountain (UN estimates)

≈ 3,100killed or dead in August 2014, including ≈ 1,400 executed (Cetorelli et al.)

Sources

Level of certainty: verified (dates of the intervention); estimate (numbers)

The facts and how well they are established

35,000 to 50,000 people trapped on the mountain as of 4 August 2014 (estimate; OCHA Flash Update No. 2 (4 August 2014), cited by UNAMI/OHCHR 2016)
Obama’s announcement on 7 August 2014, at the request of the Iraqi government (verified; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 27 and 190)
Airdrops from 8 August 2014 by the Iraqi and US air forces, with British, French and Australian participation; Iraqi helicopters evacuate the wounded under fire (verified; UNAMI/OHCHR 2016, p. 6; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 27)
About 1,700 deaths on the mountain (95% CI: 1,000–2,900) (estimate; Cetorelli et al. 2017)
4,000 to 5,000 people still on the mountain on 13 August (estimate; Assessment by a US military team, USNI News 14/08/2014)
US air strikes from 8 August near Erbil, around Mount Sinjar from 9 August (consensus; Wikipedia “Sinjar massacre”; DOJ legal opinion of 30/12/2014 (CENTCOM statement not read directly))
About 3,100 Yazidis killed or dead in August 2014 (95% CI: 2,100–4,400), including 1,400 executed (800–2,300) and 1,700 who died on the mountain (1,000–2,900) (estimate; Cetorelli et al. 2017)
Thousands of people, including armed volunteers, remain on the mountain until the December 2014 offensive (verified; AP, 18/12/2014)

Sources

9–14 August 2014

The corridor through Syria

Between about 9 and 14 August, most of those besieged leave the mountain through a land corridor opened towards north-eastern Syria. The UN Commission of Inquiry attributes it to the People’s Protection Units (YPG), Syrian Kurds; UNAMI cites the YPG and the PKK, supported by US air strikes. Yazidi volunteers also defend the route. According to OCHA, about 55,000 people cross Syria; most then return to Iraq via Peshkhabour and reach Duhok province.

≈ 55,000people who passed through Syria (OCHA)

Sources

Level of certainty: consensus (existence of the corridor, passage through Syria and Peshkhabour); disputed (exact dates, respective role of each force, precise route)

The facts and how well they are established

Corridor opened from Syria by the YPG (verified; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 28 and 190)
PKK involvement in opening the corridor (consensus; UNAMI/OHCHR 2016 (“YPG with PKK”))
US air strikes supported the opening of the corridor (verified; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 190; UNAMI 2016)
Opening date: 9–13 August (Cetorelli et al.) or 14 August (UNAMI) (disputed; Cetorelli et al. 2017; UNAMI/OHCHR 2016)
About 55,000 people crossed into Syria, returning to Iraq via Peshkhabour (estimate; OCHA Sitrep No. 7 (9–15 August 2014), cited by UNAMI 2016; UNHCR 14/08/2014)
Survivors are received at Newroz camp, in north-eastern Syria, before returning to Iraq (consensus; UNHCR 14/08/2014; camp location from OpenStreetMap (not verified to be the same site as in 2014))

Sources

15 August 2014

Kocho

Kocho, south of the mountain, had about 1,200 inhabitants. Surrounded since 3 August and ordered to convert, they are gathered in the school on 15 August. The men and teenage boys are executed nearby; older women are killed the following night at Solagh; the women and children are taken into captivity. A 2019 study identifies 1,161 victims, of whom 533 are dead or missing. In Qani, about 80 men are also executed. Nadia Murad, winner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, is from Kocho.

1,161named victims, of whom 533 dead or missing (2019 study)

Sources

Level of certainty: verified (date, general course of events); estimate (population and number of victims)

The facts and how well they are established

Gathering in the school and execution of the men on 15 August 2014 (verified; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 29, 36, 107; UNAMI 2016; Amnesty 2014)
Population of about 1,200 (range 1,172–1,700: 1,172 according to S. Shand, 1,200 according to Amnesty, 1,700 according to the USHMM, which counts those who had already fled) (estimate; Cetorelli & Ashraph 2019, p. 8 note 5 and p. 16)
1,161 victims identified, of whom 533 dead or missing and 628 survivors of captivity (estimate; Cetorelli & Ashraph 2019 (data as of August 2018))
Older women killed at the Solagh Technical Institute in the early morning of 16 August (verified; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 107)
Conversion ultimatum issued to the surrounded inhabitants (verified; Cetorelli & Ashraph 2019, p. 9)
Qani (Qiniyeh): about 80 men executed in August 2014; Kocho and Qani are the two clearly documented mass killings (verified; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 36 (citing the OHCHR report))

Sources

Since 2014

Abduction and slavery

The captives are separated. Men and boys aged about 12 and over are executed in large numbers; others, forcibly converted, are put to forced labour. Women and girls are moved to Tal Afar, Mosul and then Raqqa, in Syria, sold and held in slavery, including sexual slavery; boys are sent to training camps. Iraqi Kurdistan has recorded 6,417 people abducted. Many are freed through ransom or with the help of smugglers, others in 2019 at Baghuz; more than 2,800 are still missing.

6,417people abducted, as recorded by Iraqi Kurdistan

Sources

Level of certainty: verified (documented practices); estimate (numbers)

The facts and how well they are established

Transfers to Tal Afar, Mosul and Raqqa; registration, sale and enslavement, including sexual slavery, of women and girls; recruitment of boys (verified; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 38 ff.; UNAMI 2016)
6,417 people abducted (estimate (administrative count); Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis, via 964media 03/08/2026; UNAMI 2016 gave 6,386 (3,537 women, 2,859 men))
6,800 abducted (95% CI: 4,200–10,800) (estimate; Cetorelli et al. 2017)
People freed when Baghuz fell in 2019 (verified; Cetorelli & Ashraph 2019)
Men and boys aged about 12 and over executed, especially those who refuse to convert; those forcibly converted are put to forced labour and executed if they try to escape (verified; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 30 to 37)
Abducted people are still being found after 2019, notably in al-Hol camp (Syria) (verified (al-Hol); inferred (releases after 2019); Cetorelli & Ashraph 2019, note 28; counts by the Rescue Office up to 2026)
More than 2,800 people still missing (2,823 in May 2026) (estimate (administrative count); Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis, via 964media 03/08/2026)

Sources

2014–2017

Retaking the territory

On 17 December 2014, a Peshmerga offensive backed by the coalition reopens land access to the north of the mountain, where thousands of people were still trapped. The town of Sinjar is retaken on 13 November 2015 by several forces — Peshmerga, PKK-linked fighters and Yazidi units — with Western air support; the share of each remains debated. The south, including Kocho, is only retaken at the end of May 2017, by Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces. Mass graves are discovered as the area is retaken.

Sources

Level of certainty: verified (dates); disputed (respective share of the forces)

The facts and how well they are established

Peshmerga offensive of 17 December 2014 opening a land corridor to the mountain (verified; AP, 18/12/2014)
Town of Sinjar retaken on 13 November 2015 (verified; Al Jazeera and Euronews, 13/11/2015)
Respective role of the Peshmerga, the PKK/YBS and the YPG in retaking the town (disputed; Coverage differs between media (Al Jazeera, Euronews))
Kocho retaken on 25 May 2017 by the Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) (consensus; Nadia’s Initiative, 28/05/2017; M. Barber, ÊzîdîPress, 2017 (exact date of 25 May to be cross-checked))

Sources

Since 2014

The camps of Duhok

From 4 to 8 August 2014, nearly 200,000 people flee to the Kurdistan Region or to areas held by the Peshmerga. Most Yazidis from Sinjar settle in displacement camps in Duhok province. In 2025, IOM still counts nearly 200,000 displaced Yazidis, in or outside camps, and about 150,000 people who have returned to Sinjar, where services, reconstruction and security remain inadequate. Baghdad had set 30 July 2024 as the date for closing the camps, before postponing it.

≈ 200,000Yazidis still displaced in 2025 (IOM)

Sources

Level of certainty: verified (existence of the camps, announced closure); estimate (numbers of displaced people and returns)

The facts and how well they are established

Nearly 200,000 people fled between 4 and 8 August 2014 (estimate; OCHA Sitrep No. 6, cited by UNAMI 2016)
Most Yazidis from the region were living in camps in the Duhok area in 2016 (verified; UN Commission of Inquiry 2016, § 176)
Nearly 200,000 displaced and about 150,000 returns in 2025 (estimate; IOM Iraq, August 2025)
Deadline for closing the camps set for 30 July 2024, then postponed (verified; Human Rights Watch 13/05/2024; press (AP, 2024))

Sources

2016–2024

UN investigations find genocide

On 15 June 2016, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria concludes, in its report “They came to destroy”, that the Islamic State has committed genocide against the Yazidis. On 21 September 2017, Security Council resolution 2379 sets up an investigative team, UNITAD. On 10 May 2021, its head presents the Council with “clear and convincing evidence” of genocide; UNITAD closed on 17 September 2024. In the meantime, in 2018, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege.

Sources

Level of certainty: verified

The facts and how well they are established

Finding of genocide by the Commission of Inquiry on 15 June 2016 (verified; A/HRC/32/CRP.2)
UNITAD set up by resolution 2379 of 21 September 2017 (verified; Security Council)
2018 Nobel Peace Prize to Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege (verified; Norwegian Nobel Committee, 05/10/2018)
“Clear and convincing evidence” of genocide presented on 10 May 2021 (verified; UN News; SC/14514)
End of UNITAD’s mandate on 17 September 2024 (verified; Security Council resolution 2697 (2023), 15/09/2023 (final, non-renewable mandate))

Sources

2016–2024

Recognition

The European Parliament describes these crimes as genocide on 4 February 2016. Others follow, including the United States and the British and Canadian Houses of Commons in 2016, Belgium and the Netherlands in 2021, Iraq through its Yazidi Female Survivors Law of 1 March 2021, the Bundestag in 2023 and the British government on 1 August 2023.

In France, the Senate and the National Assembly adopted resolutions in December 2016 calling on the government to act; a bill tabled in the Senate on 17 April 2024 has not, to our knowledge, been passed.

Sources

Level of certainty: verified (texts and dates cited); the list is not exhaustive

The facts and how well they are established

European Parliament, resolution of 4 February 2016 (verified; EP Legislative Observatory)
Statement by Secretary of State John Kerry, 17 March 2016 (verified; CNN 17/03/2016)
Vote in the British House of Commons on 20 April 2016 (278 votes to 0) (consensus; House of Commons Library (source not consulted in full))
Canadian House of Commons, 25 October 2016, unanimously (verified; CTV News)
Netherlands, motion adopted on 6 July 2021; Belgium, resolution adopted unanimously by the Chamber on 15 July 2021 (verified; NOS; La Libre, 15/07/2021; RTBF)
Iraq: Yazidi Female Survivors Law of 1 March 2021, which classifies the crimes as genocide and crimes against humanity (verified; OHCHR, April 2021)
Bundestag, 19 January 2023 (verified; InfoMigrants/AFP)
British government, 1 August 2023 (verified; Al Jazeera; House of Commons Library)
France: no formal legislative recognition found. Resolutions of the Senate (6/12/2016, 309 votes to 0) and the National Assembly (8/12/2016) calling on the government to act; bill No. 543 tabled on 17/04/2024, in committee, no adoption found (verified (as of 24/09/2026: bill No. 543 still before the Senate foreign affairs committee, no National Assembly resolution in 2025-2026); French Senate; French National Assembly)

Sources

2021–2026

The trials

On 30 November 2021, the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt sentences an Iraqi member of the Islamic State to life imprisonment: it is the world’s first conviction for genocide against the Yazidis, upheld on appeal. In Brussels, on 13 November 2025, a Belgian jihadist presumed dead is found guilty of genocide. In Paris, on 20 March 2026, the assize court sentences a French jihadist, presumed dead, in absentia to life imprisonment: it is the first conviction in France for the genocide of the Yazidis. A Frenchwoman who returned from Syria is due to stand trial in turn.

Sources

Level of certainty: verified (judgments handed down); announced (upcoming trial)

The facts and how well they are established

Frankfurt, 30/11/2021: life sentence for genocide, the world’s first conviction of its kind (verified; Amnesty International; UNODC (OLG Frankfurt, 5-3 StE 1/20))
Upheld by the German Federal Court of Justice (made public in January 2023) (consensus; House of Commons Library; Doughty Street Chambers)
Brussels, 13/11/2025: conviction in absentia for genocide of a Belgian jihadist presumed dead; Belgium is the fourth country to convict an ISIS member for the Yazidi genocide (verified; France 24; La Libre, 13/11/2025)
Paris, 20/03/2026: first conviction handed down in France for the genocide of the Yazidis (French jihadist presumed dead, sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for genocide and crimes against humanity); civil ruling on 22/09/2026. France had already convicted people of genocide in Rwandan cases (verified; FIDH; Euronews; LDH)
Trial of a Frenchwoman who returned from Syria announced for genocide; the source says “in March” (2027 according to other mentions, not verified against a primary source) (announced (not verified against a primary source); AFP via Orange Actualités)

Sources

Today

In May 2026, of the 6,417 people abducted, 3,594 had been found and 2,823 were still missing, according to the Iraqi Kurdistan office in charge of abducted Yazidis. Mass graves remain to be opened: IOM recorded 93 in July 2025, 68 of them exhumed. The Kocho martyrs’ cemetery was inaugurated on 5 September 2024. The Sinjar Agreement concluded between Baghdad and Erbil on 9 October 2020 has only been partly implemented.

2,823people still missing in May 2026

93mass graves recorded (IOM, 2025)

Sources

Level of certainty: estimate (administrative and NGO figures, which vary with the date and the counting method)

The facts and how well they are established

6,417 abducted, 3,594 found, 2,823 missing (May 2026) (estimate (administrative count); Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis, via 964media 03/08/2026; Kurdistan24 gives 3,597 and 2,820)
93 mass graves identified, 68 of them exhumed (estimate; IOM Iraq, 31/07/2025; 964media (February 2025: 93 graves, 55 of them exhumed))
82 graves exhumed since March 2019, 770 bodies, of which 297 identified and buried (estimate; Yazda, 04/12/2025 (includes al-Baaj district))
Kocho martyrs’ cemetery inaugurated on 5 September 2024 (verified; Nadia’s Initiative and IOM, “Honoring the Past, Building the Future”)
Sinjar Agreement announced on 9 October 2020, partly implemented (consensus; UNAMI 09/10/2020; International Crisis Group)

Sources

3 August

In memory

About 3,100 Yazidis were killed or died in August 2014, some 1,400 of them executed, and about 6,800 were abducted, according to the reference study published in 2017. Thousands of families are still waiting for someone who is missing. Every 3 August, Yazidis commemorate the genocide.

Yazidi remembrance Who the Yazidis are

This page was prepared by the Union des Yézidis de France, an association being set up. About us · Write to us

Sources

Level of certainty: estimate (numbers); consensus (commemoration on 3 August)

The facts and how well they are established

About 3,100 killed or dead (95% CI: 2,100–4,400), including 1,400 executed; about 6,800 abducted (4,200–10,800) (estimate; Cetorelli et al. 2017)
Commemoration of the genocide every 3 August (consensus; 964media, 03/08/2026; the site’s Remembrance page)

Sources

What we do not know

Several points remain uncertain or disputed. We point them out rather than settle them.

Yazidi population of Sinjar before 2014: about 308,000 inhabitants for the district according to OCHA (cited by UNAMI), against a community of about 400,000 people according to the UN Commission of Inquiry and Cetorelli et al. The areas covered are not the same, and there was no recent census.
Number of people trapped on the mountain: 35,000 to 50,000 as of 4 August according to OCHA and UNAMI, about 50,000 according to other sources; on 13 August, a US team counted only 4,000 to 5,000. The gap is partly explained by departures already made through the corridor, and the Pentagon itself acknowledged how hard this count was. Yet thousands of people remained on the mountain until the December 2014 offensive (AP, 18/12/2014).
Timeline of the air intervention: airdrops begin on 8 August 2014 (Iraqi and US air forces, then British, French and Australian); the US air strikes of 8 August target the area around Erbil, those around Mount Sinjar begin on 9 August. The announcement of 7 August responds to a request from the Iraqi government.
Number of deaths: about 3,100 Yazidis killed or dead in August 2014 according to a sample survey (range 2,100 to 4,400), including about 1,400 executed and 1,700 who died on the mountain. Other sources, from NGOs or Kurdish sources, put the figure at about 5,000 deaths, or even more. These figures do not cover the same period and rest on different methods.
Number abducted: 6,417 according to the Rescue Office (administrative count by name, 6,386 in 2016), against 6,800 according to the statistical estimate by Cetorelli et al. (range 4,200 to 10,800).
Missing: published figures vary with the date and the source. In May 2026, the Rescue Office counts 2,823 missing (Kurdistan24: 2,820). IOM counted “more than 2,560” in 2025, and an article from March 2025 cited 2,554 missing and 3,590 rescued, a total that does not match the 6,417 abducted. How many of the missing have died is unknown.
Mass graves: 35 suspected sites documented by Yazda in January 2016; 93 according to IOM as of 31 July 2025, 68 of them exhumed, whereas 964media, citing Iraqi Kurdistan, gives 93 graves for February 2025, 55 of them exhumed; 97 according to Kurdistan24 in 2026. Yazda counts 82 graves exhumed since 2019, including al-Baaj district, and, as of 4 December 2025, 770 bodies recovered, of which 297 identified and buried. Counting methods, which may or may not distinguish graves from execution sites, differ.
Evacuation corridor: the dates vary (9 to 13 August according to Cetorelli et al., 14 August according to UNAMI, 9 to 11 August according to others). The respective roles of the YPG, the PKK (and its armed wing, the HPG), Yazidi volunteers, US air strikes and, according to Iraqi Kurdish sources, the Peshmerga are the subject of competing and politically charged accounts. We report the UN’s wording without taking sides.
Withdrawal of the Peshmerga on 3 August 2014: the fact itself, and that it was not announced, are established by the UN. Its causes remain disputed: orders, negligence, lack of ammunition or a tactical retreat. The Kurdistan Region Presidency referred the matter to a commission of inquiry in February 2015, whose public findings we have not found.
Retaking of Sinjar in November 2015: the respective share of the Peshmerga, the PKK-linked forces (YBS, YPG) and the Yazidi units is presented differently depending on the media and the actors.
Kocho: the population varies between sources (1,172, 1,200 or 1,700 inhabitants, the last estimate including those who had already fled). The number of men killed is given as anything from “several hundred” to about 400 or 600 depending on the source; the 2019 study counts 533 identified dead or missing, all categories combined.
Recognition: Yazda speaks of 13 parliaments, other sources of more than 18 countries or institutions. There is no single official list. For France, no law or resolution formally recognising the genocide had been found as of 23/09/2026: the 2016 resolutions call on the government to act, the 2024 bill has not, to our knowledge, been passed, and recognition of the genocide classification is so far judicial (Paris assize court, 20/03/2026).
Number of displaced people and returns: in 2024, IOM gave 350,000 to 450,000 Yazidis uprooted; in 2025, it counts nearly 200,000 displaced and about 150,000 returns. The number of people still living in the Duhok camps in 2026 has not been verified against a recent primary source (Kurdistan24 mentions about 50,000 families).
Coordinates: the exact point where the corridor crossed the border and the route through Syria are not documented in the sources consulted. The positions of Chilmera and Sheref ad-Din are those of OpenStreetMap and have not been checked on the ground.
Not verified and therefore not included: the agreement announced on 11 September 2026 on disarming the YBS, reported by the press (Long War Journal, 18/09/2026) but whose implementation is uncertain.

Method

This account is based on United Nations reports (Commission of Inquiry on Syria, UNITAD, UNHCR, OCHA, UNAMI, IOM), on published studies and on court rulings. Under “Sources”, each chapter lists the facts used, with how well each is established. The coordinates of places come from OpenStreetMap, GeoNames and Wikidata. The route of the evacuation corridor is a diagram, accurate to within 10 to 20 km. The relief comes from SRTM elevation data; it is exaggerated three times to make it readable.

Spotted a mistake, have a detail to add or an account to share? Write to us: contact@uniondesyezidisdefrance.fr.

Main sources

French version published on 23 September 2026, updated on 24 September 2026.

Translated from French. Read the original French version.