"They arrived in vehicles and they started their killing this afternoon," senior Kurdish official Hoshiyar Zebari told Reuters.
"We believe it's because of their creed: convert or be killed."
A Yazidi parliamentarian Mahama Khalil also said the killings has taken place, adding that women had also been kidnapped.
The development comes as the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution aimed at weakening Islamists in Iraq and Syria with measures to choke off funding and the flow of foreign fighters.
Friday's move represents the most wide-ranging response yet by the top United Nations body to the jihadists, who now control large swaths of territory in both countries and have been accused of atrocities.
The British-drafted measure also placed six Islamist leaders - from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other nations - on the al-Qaeda sanctions list, which provides for a travel ban and assets freeze.
The six include senior Al-Qaeda leaders who have provided financing to the Al-Nusra Front in Syria and Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, the spokesman for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), now renamed Islamic State (IS).
British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant noted that the 15-member council had shown "strong unity" in adopting the resolution.
"We have watched with horror their brutal actions - attempts to wipe out entire communities on the basis of their religion or belief, indiscriminate killing, illegal and savage executions, deliberate targeting of civilians and appalling levels of sexual violence, especially against women and children," he said.
The resolution won the backing of all 15 council members, including Russia, whose backing for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad partly stems from concerns that his downfall could lead to Islamists ruling Damascus.
The resolution demands IS fighters in Iraq and Syria, rebels from the Al-Nusra Front in Syria and other al-Qaeda-linked groups "disarm and disband with immediate effect".
It "calls on all member states to take national measures to suppress the flow of foreign terrorist fighters" to the extremist groups and threatens to slap sanctions on those involved in recruitment.
It also warns governments and entities that trade with the jihadists "could constitute financial support" that may lead to sanctions.
EU ministers support military aid to Iraq
Meanwhile, the European Union foreign ministers have agreed to arm Iraq's Kurdish forces in their fight against the Islamic State.
EU ministers have agreed to back the arming of beleaguered Iraqi Kurd fighters by key member states, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after three hours of talks.
"We have found a common position, the sprit of which says the EU commends the fact that certain countries have responded favourably to the request made by Kurdish Iraqi forces," Steinmeier said after the meeting on Friday.
"It is not clear what equipment will be used and is necessary."
A diplomat said the agreement was "strong and sends the desired political message".
France and Britain have already moved ahead with plans to provide weapons to beleaguered Iraqi forces, but French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius pushed for the talks to mobilise an EU-wide response to the crisis in Iraq.
Defence matters are strictly the purview of member states, and the EU approval for member states to send arms to a conflict zone is rare.
But alarming images of Iraqi minorities, including Christians, under siege by jihadists have struck chords in European capitals.
Ahead of Friday's meeting, support for a strong message backing Kurdish Iraqis was growing, even from member states historically less inclined to support military adventures abroad, such as Germany.
"Europeans must not limit themselves to praising the courageous fight of the Kurdish security forces. We also need to do something first of all to meet basic needs," Steinmeier said before the meeting.
Some countries had resisted the idea of sending weapons to an unstable war zone where fighters and the weapons they carry can quickly change sides.
Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, warning that arms can "fall into the wrong hands", urged "caution" before the talks.
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