ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Yazidi armed group operating in Shingal (Sinjar) will hand over its weapons to the Iraqi state, with “qualified” fighters to be integrated into the security forces, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced on Friday, in a move that could reshape the district's fragmented security landscape.
Zaidi received a delegation from the Yazidi Cause Alliance and the leadership of the Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) in Baghdad on Friday.
The YBS is a Yazidi armed group with close ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which dissolved itself last year and decided to lay down arms as part of a peace process with Ankara.
"We announced that the Sinjar resistance factions will begin handing over their weapons to the state, and that Mount Sinjar will be under the full authority of the federal government and its security and administrative institutions, emphasizing that restricting weapons to the hands of the state and unifying security decision-making are fundamental to protecting the district's residents, consolidating its stability, and ensuring its future," said Zaidi in a statement following the meeting.
Zaidi stressed that the state will guarantee the rights of members of the YBS members and “recognize their sacrifices, by regularizing their status and integrating those who qualify into Iraq’s security institutions in accordance with legal and official frameworks.”
The YBS traces its roots to 2007, when it emerged as a local Yazidi armed group in Shingal. It expanded significantly after the Islamic State (ISIS) attacked the district in August 2014, killing and abducting thousands of Yazidis in a campaign recognized as genocide.
During the fight against ISIS, the YBS developed close ties with the PKK, whose fighters entered the area after the jihadists' assault and helped establish a corridor through which thousands of Yazidis trapped on Mount Shingal were able to escape.
Parts of the YBS were later incorporated into Iraq's state-funded Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), while the group continued to maintain its own armed presence in the district.
Yazidi Cause Alliance confirmed in a statement that that the YBS had told Zaidi during the meeting that it is ready to hand over its weapons to the federal government and integrate into state forces “on the condition that Mount Sinjar and all lands of the district will be under the full authority of the federal government and its security and administrative institutions, in a manner that enhances state sovereignty, honors the sacrifices of these forces, unifies security decision-making, and preserves the security and stability of the region's residents.”
Murad Ismail, a member of the Yazidis Cause Alliance and a member of the delegation which met with Zaidi, said in a statement sent to Rudaw English that the move it "historic."
"We have succeeded today in reaching a historic agreement that preserves the security and sovereignty of our beloved Iraq. It grants our youth who took up arms the opportunity to integrate with their brothers in other security forces to protect their region, their land, and every inch of Iraqi soil wherever national duty demands," he said.
The move also includes YBS’ female fighters.
Shingal, part of Nineveh province and disputed between Baghdad and Erbil, has remained divided among several security forces and armed groups since its liberation from ISIS, including Iraqi federal forces, PMF factions, the YBS and forces affiliated with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The competing forces and unresolved political disputes have contributed to instability in the district and complicated the return of thousands of Yazidi families displaced by the ISIS assault.
Baghdad and Erbil signed an agreement in October 2020 aimed at normalizing the security and administrative situation in Shingal. The UN-backed deal stipulated that federal security forces would assume responsibility for security, that other armed formations would leave the district and that the PKK and its affiliates would have no role in the area.
Tensions have occasionally erupted into violence. Iraqi army forces and the YBS clashed in Shingal in May 2022 over control of security positions, forcing thousands of civilians to flee toward the Kurdistan Region.
Friday's announcement comes as the PKK's peace process with the Turkish government moves toward its final stages, following the Turkish parliament's passage of a framework law providing a legal mechanism for the reintegration of PKK members into society. It also comes amid ongoing efforts by the Iraqi federal government to bring all weapons under state control.
.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
