YAZIDIS LIGHTEN WAR BURDEN

Ritual comes as Iraqi sect flees Islamic State

LALISH, Iraq — Only miles from the front lines of the war against the Islamic State group, thousands of Iraq’s besieged Yazidis lit candles at their most revered shrine to mark the start of their New Year, which began Wednesday.

Traditionally, members of this ancient sect leave colored eggs outside their homes in the belief it helps God identify them. However, countless Yazidis fled their towns as the Islamic State group rampaged through northern Iraq last year.

Their plight pushed the U.S. to begin airstrikes against the militants. But some Yazidis remain refugees in their own lands, fearful of the future.

Thousands of Yazidis gathered Tuesday night at their sect’s holiest shrine in Lalish, some 35 miles north of the Islamic State-held city of Mosul.

“According to our traditions, we firstly wish the best to other nations, then we ask God to give every human being a decent life,” said Luqman Soleiman, 45, a teacher at Lalish’s temple.

However, he said the New Year would offer no solace for the Islamic State group, referring to it by a derogatory Arabic acronym.

“This poison, which is called Daesh, will be eliminated from everywhere ... because their ideas are not suitable for human beings,” he said.

Hanifa Alias, a displaced woman now living at a camp in Dohuk, counted herself lucky to be surrounded by family, even amid the sorrow.

“We’re all together, still, home is better,” said. but she

SAFIN HAMED/GETTY-AFP An Iraqi Yazidi lights candles and paraffin torches near a temple far outside Baghdad to welcome the Yazidi New Year, which began Wednesday.

SEIVAN M.SALIM/AP Yazidis gather at the holy shrine of Lalish to celebrate their first New Year since they fled militants last summer.