Official: Hashd al-Shaabi withdraws from Shingal
A local official in Shingal has called for the deployment of joint forces from the Peshmerga and Iraqi army after the withdrawal of Hashd al-Shaabi militias.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi (PMF) militias have withdrawn from areas in Shingal amid calls for deployment of joint military forces from the Iraqi army and the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces.
Wais Naif Badal, Head of Shingal District Council, told Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday that the PMF militias have completely withdrawn from areas in Shingal, warning of a security vacuum if the Peshmerga forces are not deployed.
No Hashd al-Shaabi militia group is currently present in the Shingal area except for the Lalish battalion of Ezidi fighters, who are stationed in the city center, and the Ezidi Peshmerga forces, Badal said.
He added that Ezidi Peshmerga is not allowed to patrol or set up security checkpoints due to obstacles created by the Iraqi forces, noting this would create a security vacuum in the area.
According to the Kurdish Ezidi official, the Iraqi army’s 92nd brigade has been deployed to replace the withdrawing forces.
“Since the Peshmerga’s liberation of Shingal, the deployment of joint forces, composed of Peshmerga, Iraqi army, and Asayish (Kurdish security), has always been our demand,” Badal told Kurdistan 24.
It is impossible for life to return to normal in Shingal if the joint forces are not deployed, and the armed militia groups are not under the control of the joint force, he explained.
The PMF recently decided to eliminate certain Centers of Operation in Nineveh, deeming the “stability and security situation” in the province—under the command of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of all Iraqi armed forces—no longer warrants their presence.
Iraqi forces and the Shia militias took control of most of the disputed areas between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Federal Government of Iraq following the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum last year.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany