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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Iraqi soldier was killed during clashes with a force affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Shingal on Monday as Baghdad steps up efforts to retake the town from the group, the cousin of the soldier told Rudaw.
Adam Mohammed, 45, was killed in his hometown of Shingal following almost two weeks of clashes between the Iraqi army and the Shingal Resistance Units (YBS), his cousin, Maysar Saado, told Rudaw on Monday afternoon. The Iraqi army has not confirmed his death
The YBS, which is an all-Yazidi group affiliated to the PKK, has been partly in control of Shingal since the Iraqi army withdrew in the face of the Islamic State (ISIS) attack in late 2014.
Mohammed was a Muslim Kurd who had been living in an IDP camp in Duhok since he fled Shingal, according to his cousin.
The Iraqi army has attempted on various occasions in the past to retake the town from the YBS with limited success. On April 18, armed clashes erupted between the Iraqi army and the group, when the latter opened fire on an army convoy that did not stop at a checkpoint in the north of the region.
Following the recent escalation, the army seems more resilient to establish control, with Iraqi troops controlling several YBS checkpoints in Shingal since mid-April.
Iraqi Security Media Cell said in a statement on Monday that there have been clashes between the army and the YBS in Shingal's Sinune subdistrict in the last two day, claiming that the "security incidents" took place after the militants "blocked" a number of roads connecting Sinune and Khanasor subdistricts to nearby villages and set up barriers on these roads.
"They prevented the movement of people between these areas," said the cell, adding that when the army tried to open these roads, they came heavily under fire by the YBS with snipers and roadside explosions. The army responded to the firing and "opened roads for the movement of people."
The cell did not confirm the soldier's death.
Sherwan Dubardani, a Kurdish MP in Baghdad who represents Nineveh province, told Rudaw on Monday that the YBS attacked the Iraqi army on Monday in retaliation to Sunday's attack on them by the army, “which led to the control of a number of YBS checkpoints by the army.”
The Iraqi army’s attacks coincide with Turkey’s fresh offensive against the PKK in Duhok province. Ankara has targeted the YBS in Shingal several times, killing a number of commanders and fighters.
Pir Dayan Pir Jaafar, head of Duhok province’s migration and crisis office, told Rudaw’s Ayub Nasri that nearly 200 families from the Shingal district’s Dugre area have been displaced to Duhok province. “The number is likely to increase.”
He added that they will be settled in Cham Mishko camp near Zakho town.
Calls for de-escalation
Ali Alyas, the Baba Sheikh (spiritual leader) of Yazidis, called on both sides to keep the conflict away from cities and towns and "resort to the language of dialogue to end the skirmishes," in a statement seen by Rudaw.
"At the same time, we call on the governments of Erbil and Baghdad to find a radical solution to the Shingal region, which is still suffering from the consequences of genocide and the effects of the terrorist campaign of ISIS," the spiritual leader added, calling on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to provide "safe havens" to families who have fled the town.
Yazidi genocide survivor and activist Nadia Murad on Monday called on the international community to intervene in the face of recent returnees "once again forced to flee their homes."
After years of displacement, recent returnees are once again forced to flee their homes due to current armed clashes in Sinjar. I call on the international community to intervene & work with the Iraqi government to resolve the region's ongoing security issues & protect civilians.
— Nadia Murad (@NadiaMuradBasee) May 2, 2022
The Iraqi government and the KRG signed an agreement in 2020 to “normalise” the situation in Shingal, which includes the withdrawal of all PKK-affiliated forces in the city. The agreement has been rejected by the PKK and its proxies.
Updated at 9:13 pm
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