ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The number of displacements due to clashes between the Iraqi army and a Yazidi force affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the embattled Shingal town has increased by over 500 people, a Kurdish official said on Tuesday.
At least 701 families, consisting of 4,083 people have left Shingal and its surrounding area heading towards the Kurdistan Region, mainly Duhok, Hussein Kalari, director general of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Joint Crisis Coordination (JCC) said in a press conference.
The number of people fleeing increased by 583 since Monday when at least 3,500 had left Shingal.
Fierce clashes broke out between the Iraqi army and the PKK-affiliated, all-Yazidi Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) in the Yazidi heartland of Shingal on Sunday, leading to the death of an Iraqi soldier.
Ali Ilyas, the Yazidi Baba Sheikh (spiritual leader) on Monday called for de-escalation and urged both sides to keep the conflict away from cities and towns and use dialogue to end the skirmishes.
There are no confirmed reports on the total number of casualties from both sides, but AFP on Monday cited an army officer saying the clashes had “cost the lives of a dozen Yazidi fighters.”
The fighting with the PKK-affiliated force sparked fear among locals, who abandoned their homes and fled the area to seek shelter in neighboring cities.
The Iraqi migration and displacement ministry on Tuesday published a lower toll of displacements, saying "about 200 to 250" families have left Shingal.
Shingal’s Yazidis are familiar with fleeing their homes. Eight years ago, the Islamic State (ISIS) attacked the town, killing and abducting thousands of people, and thousands of others sought shelter in the Kurdistan Region, mostly residing in camps in Duhok. 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.
Kalari stated that the majority of the people fleeing had arrived at the Region’s camps, adding that the KRG and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) are providing the displaced with "all necessary services and needs until the situation in Shingal stabilizes."
The Iraqi army has repeatedly attempted to retake Shingal from the YBS with limited success. On April 18, armed clashes erupted between the Iraqi army and the Yazidi forces, after the latter opened fire on an army convoy that did not stop at a checkpoint in the region.
However, the army now seems more determined to retake the region and establish control, with troops controlling several YBS checkpoints in Shingal since mid-April.
The Iraqi Joint Operations Command on Tuesday said the situation in Shingal had been controlled, with the army and local police dispersed in the area.
An agreement was signed by the Iraqi government and the KRG in 2020 to "normalize" the situation in Shingal, which includes the withdrawal of all PKK-affiliated forces in the city. The PKK and its proxies have rejected the agreement.
Mahma Khalil, a Yazidi MP in the Iraqi parliament, blamed the PKK for the ongoing violence in the area.
"This reverse migration is due to the insecure atmosphere created by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is attacking the Iraqi army and the citizens of Shingal and using them as human shields," he said in a statement on Monday, while referring to the situation as a "genocide."
Khalil claimed that the PKK-affiliated group were using “heavy weapons” against the Iraqi army.
The Iraqi army's efforts to retake the district coincide with Turkey's fresh offensive against the PKK in Duhok province. Ankara has repeatedly targeted the YBS in Shingal, killing many of the force's commanders and soldiers.
A senior YBS commander was killed in a Turkish airstrike in August of last year.
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