This week Sophie McNeill travels to Northern Iraq, where almost one year ago, one of the world's most notorious terrorist attacks left hundreds dead.

The horrendous act barely made international headlines, since it happened in a remote and desolate part of the war torn country - to a people that most of us have never heard of. The majority of the dead and injured were Yazidis, a tiny and ancient religious sect who've lived in northern Iraq for thousands of years.

The Yazidis are descendents of sunworshippers and theirs is one of the world's oldest religions, blending elements of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Their rejection of Islam and unconventional beliefs, they worship Lucifer believing that he was forgiven by God and placed first among the Angels, have made the group a target for persecution.

Once numbering in the millions, today there are estimated to be only about 100,000 Yazidi's left, mainly living in small towns in northern Iraq.

About International Dateline 

SBS Dateline, which began in 1984, is Australia's longest-running international current affairs program. It has a well-earned reputation for authoritative and incisive reporting. Dateline has taken the traditional way of producing TV current affairs and turned it on its head. Reporters who used to travel with a cameraperson and sound recordist now travel alone and have the responsibility of both filming and reporting their stories. The reporters became video-journalists, gaining access to people and places that the conventional camera crews cannot.