UN calls for implementation of Shingal deal

NEW YORK, USA — A spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General has said the Baghdad-Erbil agreement on Shingal must be “fully implemented.”

“The Sinjar [Shingal] agreement from last October is a positive first step, a positive, important step in the right direction. We need this agreement, like all agreements, to be fully implemented. And we certainly encourage discussions between Baghdad and Erbil on administrative and service and security matters for the Sinjar district,” said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general.

Shingal, the Yazidi heartland in northern Iraq, was overrun by ISIS in 2014 when it committed genocide against the minority community. After the defeat of ISIS, a myriad of armed forces have gained footholds in the Shingal area. Insecurity and lack of reconstruction and basic services means most of the local population have not returned to their homes. 

In October, Baghdad and Erbil reached an historic agreement over administration of Shingal that sees Baghdad responsible for security, tasked with establishing a new armed force recruited from the local population and expelling all other militias.

But Baghdad is having problems implementing the agreement. A local council, backed by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), this week called on its allied militias to stay. 

A Yazidi commander affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Peshmerga is worried the Iraqi armed forces may have to resort to force. “We hope the matter does not come to war, but the government needs to implement this agreement,” said Haidar Shasho, commander of the Ezidkhan Protection Force.