Clashes in Sinjar have displaced over 10,000 people: Duhok governor 

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Over 10,000 people have been displaced from Sinjar since renewed clashes between the Iraqi Army and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)-affiliated militias began late Sunday, Duhok's governor announced on Thursday. 

Governor Ali Tatar disclosed the figure during a visit to one of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps in the province, which is hosting most of the newly displaced. 

"It is not a small number," Tatar told reporters. 

Shortly after the PKK-linked Sinjar Resistance Units (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. 

In addition to calling on the international and non-governmental organizations to assist the Kurdistan Region in helping these IDPs, Tatar called upon the "illegitimate armed groups" in Sinjar to leave the area to avoid creating a "demographic change". 

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani have expressed readiness to provide all the necessary aid the IDPs require, Tatar added. 

On Wednesday, the United Nations' refugee agency, UNHCR, hailed the KRG's "welcoming" of these IDPs.