Ezidis call upon PKK to withdraw from Shingal

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Kurdish Ezidi (Yezidi) leaders called upon the forces led by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to leave the city of Shingal (Sinjar).

Ezidi leaders held a conference at the Sharfaddin shrine in Shingal on Wednesday to discuss the future of Shingal and call for the departure of PKK-affiliated groups in the city.

In an interview with Kurdistan24, Qasim Shasho, the commander of Ezidi Peshmerga forces in Shingal, said that this conference was requested by the Ezidis and all their leaders.

“We gathered to discuss the future of Shingal and to tell those who came here [to Shingal] from outside, we thank and appreciate their support and help,” Shasho added.

Shasho stated that “PKK is now building a military camp on mount Shingal to make a second Qandil. But this is not acceptable by Ezidis because we do not want Shingal to become a military base.”

Mahma Khaleel, the Mayor of Shingal said in a press conference, Ezidis only have one mountain that they have not given up to anyone, stating that "We ask the international community to pressure these forces to withdraw from Shingal as they pressured them to withdraw in Manbij.”

Mazlum Shingali, a PKK commander in Shingal previously told Kurdistan24, “It’s been two years that we are in the area, and it has been a year that the Iraqi government has recognized us as an official military force in town.”

Shingal Protection Forces (known as YBS) an armed group affiliated with PKK was established during the ISIS attack on the Ezidi-populated city.

Shingal was occupied by the IS on August 2014. Following the occupation, IS carried out mass executions and sold Ezidi women as war slaves.

On Nov. 13, 2015, Peshmerga forces with the aerial support of the international coalition jets liberated Shingal and pushed out IS from the city.

Editing by Ava Homa