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Iraq
Lahib Higel, senior Iraq analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG) speaks to Rudaw on October 12, 2020. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The numerous armed groups already present on the ground in Shingal (Sinjar) should not be excluded from the recent Erbil-Baghdad military and administration agreement for the area, a top analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG) has warned.
"It is difficult due to the way it is framed, because we have several different armed factions in Sinjar. At the moment, there are the PKK, and the forces that are affiliated to it such as the [Shingal Resistance Units] YBS. There are also several factions that are affiliated with the Hashd al-Shaabi of Iraq," the ICG's senior Iraq analyst Lahib Higel told Rudaw's Rozhan Abubakir on Monday of any possible implementation of the deal.
"There are some tensions around this as it will create a new force and this could potentially be a competition with the others. So it will be very important for the implementation of this agreement to ensure that various factions are either integrated into this force or there are other alternatives to them," Higel added.
Under the Erbil-Baghdad agreement on Shingal struck on Friday, security for the troubled region will be Baghdad's responsibility. The federal government will have to establish a new armed force recruited from the local population and expel fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and their affiliated groups, according to details released on Saturday.
The PKK participated in the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Yezidi homeland of Shingal and supports the all-Yezidi YBS, - one of some six armed groups currently operating in the area.
Part of the “historic” deal is the employment of 2,500 people, to include "1,000 young men from Shingal as part of the security forces in the district,” tweeted Ahmad Mulla Talal, spokesperson for Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. The remaining, mostly administrative job opportunities are to go to 1,500 Yezidi youth from camps for the internally displaced, Talal added.
However, Higel added that "this is of course a good step which aims to unify the administration to have one head of the district and new appointees that represent the components of Sinjar."
Turkey, which has carried out airstrikes against alleged PKK targets in Shingal, tentatively welcomed the new agreement. The Turkish foreign ministry said it hopes the plan will lead to “re-instating the control of the Iraqi authorities in Sinjar [Shingal], the eradication of DAESH [ISIS] and PKK terrorist organizations and their extensions in the region and ensuring the safe return to their ancestral lands of Ezidis [Yezidis] and the other people of the region who have been subject to grave oppression and persecution of first DAESH and then of PKK.”
A group called the Shengal Autonomous Administration said the people of area were not included in the talks between Erbil and Baghdad and rejected any decision imposed on them without their participation, according to a statement published by the PKK-affiliated ANF media.
Shingal lies within areas disputed between the governments in Baghdad and Erbil. The Yezidi population fled when ISIS swept through northern Iraq in 2014, committing genocide against the minority group. Hundreds of thousands sought refuge in camps in the Kurdistan Region, more than 6,000 people were kidnapped by the group, and over 1,200 killed. Federal forces took control of the region in 2017 after the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum.
On Sunday, some Shingal residents waged an angry protest against the Erbil-Baghdad deal, saying it acted against the will of Shingal's locals.
"Neither the Iraqi armed forces nor did forces of the Kurdistan do anything against the ISIS gangs. We, as all the components of Shingal, put up a stiff resistance to liberate Shingal and paid sacrifices," read an announcement from the protests shared by the PKK affiliated Roj News. "We have gathered here today to show our support for the return of all the Yezidis to rehabilitate Shingal and resolve the issues."
Shingal's local authorities and residents have not been party to the deal and "do not accept the agreement," the announcement added.
Six years after genocide at the hands of ISIS, the Yezidi population still suffers from a "mental health crisis", with suicides on the rise among the ethnoreligious community's youth. Few displaced Yezidis have been able to return to their homes because homes and basic services have not yet been restored.
"It is difficult due to the way it is framed, because we have several different armed factions in Sinjar. At the moment, there are the PKK, and the forces that are affiliated to it such as the [Shingal Resistance Units] YBS. There are also several factions that are affiliated with the Hashd al-Shaabi of Iraq," the ICG's senior Iraq analyst Lahib Higel told Rudaw's Rozhan Abubakir on Monday of any possible implementation of the deal.
"There are some tensions around this as it will create a new force and this could potentially be a competition with the others. So it will be very important for the implementation of this agreement to ensure that various factions are either integrated into this force or there are other alternatives to them," Higel added.
Under the Erbil-Baghdad agreement on Shingal struck on Friday, security for the troubled region will be Baghdad's responsibility. The federal government will have to establish a new armed force recruited from the local population and expel fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and their affiliated groups, according to details released on Saturday.
The PKK participated in the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Yezidi homeland of Shingal and supports the all-Yezidi YBS, - one of some six armed groups currently operating in the area.
Part of the “historic” deal is the employment of 2,500 people, to include "1,000 young men from Shingal as part of the security forces in the district,” tweeted Ahmad Mulla Talal, spokesperson for Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. The remaining, mostly administrative job opportunities are to go to 1,500 Yezidi youth from camps for the internally displaced, Talal added.
However, Higel added that "this is of course a good step which aims to unify the administration to have one head of the district and new appointees that represent the components of Sinjar."
Turkey, which has carried out airstrikes against alleged PKK targets in Shingal, tentatively welcomed the new agreement. The Turkish foreign ministry said it hopes the plan will lead to “re-instating the control of the Iraqi authorities in Sinjar [Shingal], the eradication of DAESH [ISIS] and PKK terrorist organizations and their extensions in the region and ensuring the safe return to their ancestral lands of Ezidis [Yezidis] and the other people of the region who have been subject to grave oppression and persecution of first DAESH and then of PKK.”
A group called the Shengal Autonomous Administration said the people of area were not included in the talks between Erbil and Baghdad and rejected any decision imposed on them without their participation, according to a statement published by the PKK-affiliated ANF media.
Shingal lies within areas disputed between the governments in Baghdad and Erbil. The Yezidi population fled when ISIS swept through northern Iraq in 2014, committing genocide against the minority group. Hundreds of thousands sought refuge in camps in the Kurdistan Region, more than 6,000 people were kidnapped by the group, and over 1,200 killed. Federal forces took control of the region in 2017 after the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum.
On Sunday, some Shingal residents waged an angry protest against the Erbil-Baghdad deal, saying it acted against the will of Shingal's locals.
"Neither the Iraqi armed forces nor did forces of the Kurdistan do anything against the ISIS gangs. We, as all the components of Shingal, put up a stiff resistance to liberate Shingal and paid sacrifices," read an announcement from the protests shared by the PKK affiliated Roj News. "We have gathered here today to show our support for the return of all the Yezidis to rehabilitate Shingal and resolve the issues."
Shingal's local authorities and residents have not been party to the deal and "do not accept the agreement," the announcement added.
Six years after genocide at the hands of ISIS, the Yezidi population still suffers from a "mental health crisis", with suicides on the rise among the ethnoreligious community's youth. Few displaced Yezidis have been able to return to their homes because homes and basic services have not yet been restored.
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