Security

Sinjar is inseparable part of Kurdistan Region, says KRG Interior Minister

Ahmed then described a committee funded by the KRG to conduct background checks for 1,500 Sinjar police recruits, which they have requested to be inclusive of females.

Kurdistan 24 2023/10/11 21:10

KRG Minister of Interior Reber Ahmed is pictured during a MERI 2023 panel in Erbil, Oct. 11, 2023. (Photo: MERI)

Kurdistan Rebar Ahmed Sinjar Agreement Yazidis MERI Forum 2023

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed on Wednesday said "Sinjar is an inseparable part of the Kurdistan Region.”

The minister’s remarks came during his speech at the Middle East Research Center (MERI) Forum in Erbil.

“Around 500 Peshmerga members were martyred in Sinjar's liberation,” he stated, and noted that “[KDP] President Masoud Barzani personally led Sinjar's liberation from ISIS.”

Ahmed then described a committee created to perform background checks for 1,500 Sinjar police recruits, which they have requested to be inclusive of females.

Regarding the implementation of the Sinjar Agreement, Ahmed said that the agreement is an achievement for Sinjar's people. However, the PKK has been a “headache” and is preventing both its implementation and the establishment of a legitimate police force.

Ahmed further revealed that the PKK maintains about 40 strongholds in and around Sinjar, while warning the group “could be ousted from Sinjar forcefully.”

He also revealed that nearly 100,000-150,000 Yazidis have fled Iraq since the onset of the War on ISIS in 2014.

“Many Christians in the Nineveh Plains have left Iraq or moved to the Kurdistan Region,” the minister added.

The Sinjar Agreement was signed in Oct. 2020 between Erbil and Baghdad with support from the UN to normalize the situation in Sinjar and facilitate the return of thousands of Yazidis in displacement camps.