'We will not allow PKK to stand in the army's way': Iraqi commander

"We have orders to strike anyone who tries to tamper with the area's security."

Dler S. Mohammed 2022/05/06 16:40

Iraqi Major General Jabar Al-Tayi, Commander of West Nineveh Operations, and Brigadier General Atheer Al-Zubaidi, Commander of the 20th Division, meeting with local notables in Sinjar, May 5, 2022. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

Iraq Iraqi Army PKK Sinjar Sinjar Agrement YBS Yezidi IDPs Yazid Khan Asayish

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq Army commanders reassured civilians in Sinjar following intensive meetings with local leaders and notables in the Yezidi-majority town on Thursday.

Major General Jabar Al-Tayi, Commander of West Nineveh Operations, and Brigadier General Atheer Al-Zubaidi, Commander of the 20th Division, held a series of meetings with the notables in Sinjar and reassured them about the security situation there.

"Our goal is to pursue all armed and outlawed groups in Sinjar," Al-Tayi told the Sinjar notables. "We will not allow the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to stand in the army's way, and we have orders to strike anyone who tries to tamper with the area's security."

On the other hand, he confirmed that "what happened in Sinjar was caused by outlaw groups who closed all roads leading to some residential complexes and sowed fear among the citizens."

"It is the duty of the army to confront these people, and we will not allow them to control the area," Al-Tayi warned.

The Iraqi Army deployed troop reinforcements to the Yezidi-majority town on Thursday.

These reinforcements are intended to enforce "state authority and law," the spokesperson for the Iraqi Joint Operations Command Maj. Gen. Tahseen Al-Khafaji told the Iraqi News Agency on Thursday.

The arrival of these reinforcements followed violent clashes between the Iraqi Army and the PKK-affiliated Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) and Yezidi Khan Asayish beginning late Sunday.

Over 10,000 people have been displaced from Sinjar since these renewed clashes began, Duhok's governor announced on Thursday.

Shortly after the YBS and the Yazid Khan Asayish clashed with the Iraqi Army, an estimated 250 families fled their homes for the safety of Duhok.

The number of displaced kept rising throughout the week despite the Iraqi Army repeatedly insisting that the security situation had become "stable" again.