Politics1 min read

Can Baghdad finally resolve the crisis in Sinjar?

By · Via Middle East Eye · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The incorporation of the Sinjar Resistance Units directly challenges the stalled 2020 Sinjar agreement, which originally mandated the complete removal of non-state actors from the area. Kurdish leaders argue that excluding them from these security arrangements will deepen instability rather than resolve it. Furthermore, the district remains entangled in proxy rivalries involving Turkish interests, Iranian influence, and Baghdad-backed forces. Implementation is already underway as fighters transfer Mount Sinjar positions and personnel rosters to the federal army.

Key points

  • Federal officials contend that absorbing the local militia reinforces the rule of law by…: Federal officials contend that absorbing the local militia reinforces the rule of law by centralizing arms under state control.
  • Regional leadership warns that unilateral federal measures will obstruct the safe return…: Regional leadership warns that unilateral federal measures will obstruct the safe return of thousands of displaced Yazidi civilians.
  • Ingrained proxy tensions involving Iran, Turkey, and local factions continue to threaten…: Ingrained proxy tensions involving Iran, Turkey, and local factions continue to threaten lasting stability in the fractured district.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Earlier this week, the Iraqi government announced that the Yazidi-led armed group that had been a dominant force in the Sinjar governorate had finally been integrated into the state.

The Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a group linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), were formed in the 2000s to protect the Yazidi religious minority, who have faced discrimination and sectarian attacks for decades.

They mobilised after August 2014 to fight the Islamic State group (IS), who carried out a genocide against the Yazidis in Sinjar, killing at least 5,000 people and abducting thousands of women and girls.

A state ceremony on Monday officially saw the group integrated into the state, with an estimated 2,500 YBS local fighters expected to join the Iraqi security forces.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi announced the measure last month after meeting a delegation of the Yazidi Cause Alliance led by Iraqi MP Murad Ismael, in a move similar to the integration into the Syrian state of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

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