The Islamic State militant group is committing "genocide" against minority groups in Iraq and Syria, including Christians, Yazidis and Shi'ite Muslims, US Secretary of State John Kerry says.
Islamic State, which he referred to by its Arabic acronym Daesh, had been pushed out of 40 per cent of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and 20 per cent in Syria, Kerry said.
Saying that "civil war fuels Daesh", the top US diplomat added that the Sunni extremist group is "also responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing directed against these groups and others".
While he admitted that the US and its allies has been unable to compile a complete record of atrocities, he added that over the past several months a review had been conducted.
"We know, for example, that in August 2014, Daesh killed hundreds of Yazidi men and older women ... trapped tens of thousands on Mount Sinjar ... without our intervention it was clear they would have been tortured."
IS had executed Christians in Mosul, Iraq, and other places "solely because of their faith," Kerry said, adding that the group had "forced Christian women and girls into sexual slavery".
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