YBŞ in Talks with Baghdad on Integration into Iraqi Security Institutions

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The Sinjar Resistance Units (better known as YBŞ) are engaged in ongoing negotiations with the Iraqi government over the group’s integration into state institutions and efforts to resolve outstanding issues in Sinjar, with the discussions having resulted in mutual understandings on several points, the group’s spokesperson has said.

Hadi Elias, the YBŞ spokesperson, said negotiations with senior Iraqi security and military officials began in February 2026, aiming to reach an agreement on reorganizing the group and integrating it into Iraq’s state system.

Elias said the move would support Iraq’s sovereignty, adding that formalizing YBŞ’s status within the country’s security structure would help protect the identity and achievements of the Ezidi community.

He stressed that Sinjar’s challenges extend beyond security, identifying the return of displaced residents, compensation for affected ones, reconstruction, and determining the fate of people who remain missing or were abducted by the Islamic State (ISIS) as key issues requiring legal and institutional solutions.

According to Elias, the talks with Iraqi officials have already produced understandings on several of these issues.

He acknowledged that the negotiations were taking time but described this as normal, given the issues at stake, including the future of the Ezidi community, Sinjar’s geographical circumstances, women’s rights, and the organization of security institutions.

Elias expressed hope that the process would soon produce positive results, contributing to Iraq’s stability and the protection of the Ezidi community.

YBŞ is an armed Ezidi group that emerged in the Sinjar area following the ISIS's 2014 attacks and genocide against the Ezidi community.

In October 2020, the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government signed the Sinjar Agreement, which sought to normalize the situation in the district through security and administrative arrangements. The agreement included provisions to remove armed groups operating outside the state’s official security structures, including groups affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Following Iraq’s decision to ban the PKK, YBŞ has stepped up efforts to negotiate its integration into the country’s official security and defense institutions. Such an arrangement would place the group within a formal legal framework and define its status within Iraq’s state security system.