Thousands of people have demonstrated in France and Germany in support of Kurdish and Yazidi communities in Iraq – calling for international intervention to stop the bloodshed.

In the northern German city of Hanover Kurds, Yazidis and others protested against the military advances of the Islamic State (IS) and its oppression of minorities.

They claim that in Iraq’s northern Shingal region people are being slaughtered by the Jihadists.

“We’re here to send a clear signal that politicians must act now against the genocide in Shingal, where not only Yazidis but also Christians – Arameans, Assyrians, ‘heretics’ and anyone who doesn’t agree with the inhuman world view of the IS terrorists – is being massacred, even decapitated. Now is the time for politicians to act,” said one protester.

In France several hundred marched through the streets of Paris and Strasbourg warning that a “genocide” of Yazidis was taking place in Iraq.

They claim current levels of humanitarian and military aid are not enough to stop what one protest leader called “religious and ethnic cleansing” by the Islamists.