Belgium opens first trial linked to Yazidi genocide

By AFP, Brussels

A Belgian jihadist accused of acts of genocide against the Yazidi religious minority in Iraq and Syria -- and presumed killed in conflict -- went on trial in absentia yesterday in Brussels.

Sammy Djedou, a former fighter with the Islamic State (IS) group, was reported by the Pentagon to have been killed in a 2016 airstrike in Raqqa, Syria.