Over 3,000 people flee Shingal due to latest clashes: official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The latest clashes between the Iraqi army and the militants affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Shingal have led to the displacement of over three thousand residents to the nearby province of Duhok, the deputy governor of the Kurdish province said late Monday. 

Majid Said Salih, deputy governor of Duhok, told Rudaw that more than 600 families from Shingal, consisting of about 3,500 people, have arrived in the province as a result of fleeing the latest fighting between the Iraqi army and the PKK-affiliated, all-Yazidi Shingal Resistance Units (YBS). "The province's administration has made all the preparations to settle them in the camps," the official added.

The Iraqi army has attempted on various occasions to retake Shingal 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.

There have been severe clashes between both sides since Sunday, leading to the death of an Iraqi soldier on Monday.

Iraqi Security Media Cell blamed the YBS for the escalation, claiming to have controlled a number of roads previously held by the militia group. 

This is not the first time the people of the Yazidi-majority town have fled their homes. When the Islamic State (ISIS) attacked the town in 2014, the terror group killed and abducted thousands of people, with thousands of others displaced to the Kurdistan Region, mostly residing in camps in Duhok. 

Ongoing insecurity in Shingal, mostly linked to the presence of several armed forces, has prevented families from returning to their homeland. Around 200,000 displaced Yazidis still live in the Kurdistan Region, many of whom linger in IDP camps and live well below the poverty line. 

Related: A year on from Iraq’s Yazidi Survivors Law, nothing has changed for those who return

Ali Ilyas, 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."

The Iraqi government and the KRG signed an agreement in 2020 to “normalize” 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.

Abdulkhaliq Talaat, the Kurdistan Region’s representative in Iraq’s Joint Operations Command who played a key role in the agreement, told Rudaw late Monday that the agreement “should be implemented - whether peacefully or through fighting.” 

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said in a statement that it is “deeply concerned” about the clashes in Shingal, stressing the “grave consequences for civilians.”

“Sinjaris' safety and security should be front and centre. They've suffered enormously in the past and deserve peace under state authority. Domestic and external spoilers have no place in Sinjar,” the UNAMI statement continued, using the Arabic name of the town.

The Free Yezidi Foundation, a non-profit organization working to support Yazidis, also called on the clashes to stop. “This violates basic responsibility to protect. Yezidis flee Sinjar today - again.”

Farhad Barakat, a 24-year-old Yazidi in Shingal, confirmed to Rudaw English that he has witnessed the displacement of hundreds of civilians from the town on Monday, and that “Iraqi security forces brought heavy weapons, tanks, and mortal bombardment to YBS locations.”

The situation is quiet now, he added, “but people are still scared.”