Shingal
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Sinjar Kurdish: شنگار/شنگال /Şengar/Şingal |
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Yezidi Temple on Mount Sinjar, 2004.
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 Sinjar
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| Coordinates: 36°19′21″N 41°51′51″E / 36.32250°N 41.86417°ECoordinates: 36°19′21″N 41°51′51″E / 36.32250°N 41.86417°E | |
| Country |
 Iraq
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| Governorate | Nineveh Governorate |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Mahma Xelil |
| Elevation | 522 m (1,713 ft) |
| Population (2013) | |
| • Total | 88,023 |
| Time zone | GMT (UTC+3) |
Sinjar, also known as Shingal (Kurdish: Şengal/Şingal/Şingar/شنگار/ شنگال) is a town in Shingal District, Nineveh Province, Iraq near Mount Shingal. The town is inhabited mainly by Yazidis, with a Muslim Kurdish minority. Its population in 2013 was estimated at 88,023.
The important Chermera temple (meaning 40 Men) is found at the highest peak of the Sinjar Mountains.
In 2007, several explosions set off by al-Qaeda in Iraq killed hundreds of Yazidis in Shingal.
In the course of their second Northern Iraq offensive in August 2014, ISIS conquered large areas of Nineveh province. Following the defeat against the Kurdish Peshmerga they seized the city of Shingal on 3 August. During the following days, IS militants perpetrated the Sinjar massacre, killing 2,000 Yazidi men and taking Yazidi women into slavery, leading to a mass exodus of Yazidi residents. According to a UN report, 5,000 Yazidi civilians were killed during ISIL's August offensive.
On the night of 20 December 2014, in the course of a first offensive to retake it from Islamic State militants, Kurdish forces pushed into the city of Sinjar. 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.
On 13 November 2015, a day after launching a major second offensive, Kurdish forces and Yazidi militias backed by US airstrikes, entered the city and fully regained its control from ISIS. Following the recapture, in nearby hamlet of Solagh, east of Sinjar city, Kurdish forces found a mass grave with the remains of at least 78 Yazidi women from Kocho village believed to be executed by ISIL militants.
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Wikipedia