Militants from ISIL, killed many of the Yazidi men in Sinjar and have taken the women and children to Mosul, a city controlled by the extremist group, an ISIL senior commander said in a telephone interview with CNN on Wednesday.

The ISIL commander, who has knowledge of the events that unfolded in the town, said the militants killed a large number of Yazidi men when they took over the town more than a week ago.

"At that time, they took Yazidi women and children, and I can confirm those women and children have entered Mosul," the commander added.

Earlier, a spokesman for Iraq's Human Rights Ministry said hundreds of Yazidi women below the age of 35 had been taken captive and are being held in schools in Mosul.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that the women were kidnapped so that they can be sold or married off to extremist militants.

Tens of thousands of Yazidis -- members of a minority group deemed heretical by the ISIL -- fled their homes earlier this month as the militants advanced through northern Iraq.

NTJ/NJF