US calls on PKK, PMF to ‘fully withdraw’ from Sinjar: Official

Halgurd Sherwani 2021/08/30 15:49

An Iraqi army solder stands guard in Sinjar. (Photo: AP)

Iraq Sinjar Agreement Iraq US PKK PMF Krg

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The United States urged militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) to “fully withdraw” from Iraq's disputed town of Sinjar (Shingal) to allow the long-awaited implementation of a deal struck between Iraqi central government and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a high-ranking diplomat said on Monday.

The remarks came from US Consul General to Erbil Robert Palladino during a press conference in which he touched upon various topics related to the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, including his country’s mission, the Sinjar Agreement, and Peshmerga reform.

“We urge both the PKK and the PMF to withdraw fully from Sinjar, so that the Sinjar Agreement can be implemented,” said the diplomat, adding that the PKK makes the Yezidi (Ezidi) town “even more volatile and unstable.”

The agreement, which mandates the formation of new brigades consisting of local members of the Yezidi religious community to handle security there.

Though the deal was made in October, it still has not yet been implemented effectively, mainly due to the presence of PKK, which has fought a decades-long conflict with Ankara over Kurdish rights in Turkey, and Iranian-backed Iraqi militias of the PMF, according to the majority of international authorities and analysts who have spoken on the issue.

Thousands of displaced Yezidis are still living in camps and host communities in both Erbil and Mosul due to the unstable situation in Sinjar.

Joint brigades of Iraqi security forces and Peshmerga are “necessary in order to create the conditions for internally displaced persons to return,” the American official added.

On Sunday, the head of the United Nations in Iraq said that “limited progress” had been made in the implementation of the agreement.

Editing by John J. Catherine