They had been threatened with death if they refused conversion to Islam .
5 August : An ISIL offensive in the Sinjar area of northern Iraq had forced 30,000 -- 50,000 Yazidis to flee into the mountains .
Yazidis had been threatened with death if Yazidis refused conversion to Islam .
5 August : An ISIL offensive in the Sinjar area of northern Iraq had forced 30,000 -- 50,000 Yazidis to flee into the mountains .