It is now close to one year since ISIS militants attacked the Yazidi ethnic minority on mount Sinjar province in Iraq.

One of Iraq’s oldest ethnic minorities, roughly 40,000 Yazidis were attacked last year, sparking the first international response against the militants.

The Islamic State targeted, and aimed to wipe out, the Yazidi population due to their religious beliefs.

In the past year many Yazidi people, including thousands of women and children, have been held captive by the Islamic State, often enduring horrific conditions and treatment.

Newstalk’s Shona Murray is in Kurdistan, in Northern Iraq, and she spoke with Yazidi families who have recently escaped from Isis capture in Sinjar.

She spoke to The Pat Kenny Show this morning, and gave us a glimpse into the terrifying ordeal the Yazidi people have faced, and continue to face.