Sinjar residents 'suspicious' of Iraqi army reinforcements
Sinjar residents 'suspicious' of Iraqi army reinforcements
"We did not see such a force in 2014 to protect us, thus we think the reinforcements are not in the interests of the people of Sinjar," Khudeda Alias, Chairman of the Autonomous Administration Council in Sinjar, told The New Arab.
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An Iraqi officer directs a T-72 tank from his Battalion to the firing line during a live fire training exercise at the Besmaya Gunnery Range, Iraq, October 2008. [Getty]
Concerns grow among residents of Sinjar and its surrounding areas over the Iraqi army deploying more reinforcements into the area as a prelude to a potential battle with Yazidi forces, who oversee an autonomous administration and are believed to be close to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The Iraqi army on Monday sent heavily armoured vehicles to Sinjar, which is near Iraq's borders with Syria, in order to prevent infiltration by Islamic State (ISIS) militants and establish stability, Iraqi State television reported.
But officials and people of Sinjar are worried these Iraqi reinforcements might be sent as preparations for an expected battle with Yazidi forces, following a recent skirmish between the Iraqi army and Ezdixan security forces, leading to several injuries from both sides and from civilians.
"Although the Iraqi reinforcements are in the border areas with Syria and meant to aim at the terrorist groups, but we are suspicious of the move and we will not tolerate any force in our area that does not recognise the will of people of Sinjar. We did not see such a force in 2014 to protect us, thus we think the reinforcements are not in the interests of the people of Sinjar," Khudeda Alias, Chairman of the Autonomous Administration Council in Sinuny sub-district of Sinjar told The New Arab during a brief phone interview.
"Currently the situation is calm, but we will defend ourselves if the Iraqi government imposes a deal signed without our will," he added.
Alias stressed that all Yazidi forces in Sinjar are officially related to the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Force, and denies the presence of irregular forces in Sinjar.
He also said Ezdixan forces have been fighting ISIS since 2014 and during the recent skirmishes between the Iraqi army and the Ezdixan security, no one was killed.
He further noted that a committee from Sinjar will visit Baghdad and meet with officials from the Iraqi federal government to seek a peaceful solution to the tensions.
Islamic State (ISIS) militants took over Sinjar in August 2014; a Yazidi-majority district along Iraq's north-western border with Syria, after the Iraqi army and the Kurdish peshmerga forces retreated, leaving the Yazidis to experience a genocidal campaign of killings, rape, abductions and enslavement by the ISIS militants.
Yazidis established the armed Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), with the help of the PKK to defend their vulnerable community. Ezidxane Security Forces are affiliated with the YBS, which is part of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).
Currently, there are eight different armed Iraqi forces, including the Iraqi army, federal and local police, border patrols, Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), Ezidxane Security and Peshmerga Forces, peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The Iraqi federal government and the KRG signed a deal in October 2020, but without including the Yazidis. According to the deal, YBS forces should withdraw from the city, but the agreement has not been carried out since the Yazidis reject the deal.
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