Yazidi shrine becomes sanctuary

A shrine becomes a sanctuary for hundreds fleeing the violence in northern Iraq.

Kurdish Yazidi families, fleeing an Islamic State onslaught, seek refuge in the only safe place they knew - the Lalish shrine.

(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MEMBER OF THE YAZIDI COMMUNITY, LOKMAN SULEIMAN, SAYING:

"Many of these families were living on the Mountain. They were there for 9, 10 or 11 days, without shelter, water or food. So after they had gone through all that, they did not have any place to turn to except for this shrine -- the Lalish shrine."

The shrine is considered the holiest, and one of the few religious sites for the faith whose believers were persecuted by Islamic State militants who consider them non-believers.

(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ELDERLY DISPLACED MEMBER OF THE YAZIDI COMMUNITY IN IRAQ, JINDI ALI KOCHUK, SAYING:

"We had no weapons to fight them. We tried to resist, but their weapons were more powerful than ours, so we took our families and left. We did no