After clashes with PKK fighters, Sinjar is in the grip of the Iraqi forces and a wave of displacement from the area

Cautious calm prevails in Sinjar district (west of Mosul in Nineveh governorate in northern Iraq) a day after Iraqi forces imposed their control over the area, following violent clashes with armed men loyal to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which left dead and wounded, while an Iraqi MP spoke about the displacement of more than 4,000. civilian from the judiciary.

A spokesman for the Joint Operations Command of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, Major General Tahsin al-Khafaji, confirmed - in a statement to the official news agency (INA) - that there are no armed manifestations inside the Sinjar district, except for the army and police, and said that "the people of the judiciary had an important role in supporting the security forces by imposing control and safety." in Sinjar.

For his part, Lieutenant-General Abdul-Amir Al-Shammari, Deputy Commander of Joint Operations in Iraq, said that the Iraqi forces imposed security, law and order and opened all roads in the judiciary, noting that the security forces will pursue anyone who carries weapons and tries to impose his dominance over the judiciary.

Al-Shammari stressed during an expanded security meeting of army leaders - in which he discussed the security developments in Sinjar district - that "the aim of these operations is to impose the rule of law and security to secure a safe environment, until Sinjar is reconstructed and the displaced are returned."

An intruder spoke of the displacement of more than 4,000 civilians within two days of Sinjar district (communication sites)

thousands of displaced

Meanwhile, the Yazidi MP in the Iraqi parliament, Vian Dakhil, announced the displacement of more than 4,000 civilians in two days from Sinjar district.

Dakhil said - in a statement today, Wednesday - that the law enforcement plan implemented by the Iraqi army in Sinjar district led to clashes between the army and the so-called Yabsha elements of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The fighting today in #Sinjar #Shingal is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.

Regardless of political / military affiliation, there should be no attacks against #Yezidi #Yazidi from Sinjar by anyone at any time.

This violates basic responsibility to protect.

Yezidis flee Sinjar today – again.

pic.twitter.com/yziMH2QYwy

— FreeYezidiFoundation (@Free_Yezidi) May 2, 2022

She added that these forces "cut off roads in the villages and towns of Sinjar district in front of defenseless civilians, which led to the displacement of more than 4,000 Yazidi citizens, including women, children and elderly men, heading to Dohuk Governorate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq."

Dakhil called on the federal government, represented by the Federal Ministry of Migration and Displacement, to "perform its duty and provide all forms of support to these displaced persons in coordination with the competent authorities in the Kurdistan region."

📹 The #Iraq military reestablished control of the northwestern region of #Sinjar.

Sinjar had witnessed intense fighting on Monday between the Iraqi army and the YBS terror group, with ties to the PKK/HPG terror organization.

📹 @savunmaisleri pic.twitter.com/0CMl92AeAv

— Mete Sohtaoğlu (@metesohtaoglu) May 4, 2022

mutual accusations

Violent clashes erupted - last Sunday and Monday - between Iraqi army forces and fighters from the "Sinjar Protection Units" linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), after the army demanded the evacuation of a position belonging to the armed group, where a soldier and two PKK loyalists were killed.

Each side accuses the other of being responsible for the clashes.

In a statement last Monday, the Iraqi security forces said that the Yazidi fighters closed the roads leading to the village of Sinuni, north of Sinjar, and set up barricades and prevented the movement of civilians in that area, and opened fire, and said that the army dealt with its source.

On the other hand, the "Sinjar Protection Units" accuse the army of wanting to control their area and expel them from it, while the Iraqi army wants to implement an agreement between Baghdad and Erbil signed on October 9, 2020, brokered by the United Nations, to implement the regime in the region.

The agreement stipulates that the Iraqi police will establish security in the district and end the presence of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the region, while the Baghdad and Erbil governments will cooperate in the reconstruction of what was destroyed by the war in Sinjar.

This agreement was not successful, because local forces in Sinjar or even Yazidi leaders were not consulted, analysts say.

The "Sinjar Protection Units" was established with the support of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in 2014 to defend the city after it fell to the Islamic State.

So far, PKK elements are still present in Sinjar, in contravention of the terms of the agreement between Baghdad and Erbil, according to Mahma Khalil, the commissioner of the judiciary, in previous statements.

Sinjar district is located northwest of the city of Mosul (400 km north of Baghdad), and administratively it belongs to the Nineveh Governorate. It is inhabited by a mixture of Arabs, Kurds, and the Yazidi sect, which was tortured by the Islamic State during its control of the district for several months in 2014, when it witnessed massacres against the Yazidis and their displacement in displacement camps. As well as the kidnapping of thousands of their women and children.