Islamic State 1 year: Yazidis target of brutality In the year since it declared its "caliphate," the Islamic State group has become the world's most infamous jihadist organisation, attracting international franchises and spreading fear with acts of extreme violence. IS began targeting Iraqi Yazidis -- who follow a unique faith despised by the jihadists -- last August in a campaign of killings and kidnappings the UN said may qualify as genocide. Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region paid smugglers to free hundreds of members of the Yazidi religious minority. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES