'As long as terrorist groups in Sinjar thrive, no security for Yazidis'

Women members of Iraq's Yazidi community hold photos of victims of the August 2014 massacre carried out in the Sinjar region by Daesh terrorist group militants, during a commemoration of the eighth anniversary of the event at the Temple of Lalish, the holiest temple of the faith, in the Lalish valley near the city of Dohuk, northern Iraq, Aug. 2, 2022. (AFP Photo)

by Daily Sabah with AA

Aug 30, 2022 11:01 am

Iraqi Yazidis are unable to return to their homes due to the presence of the PKK terrorist organization in the region and the Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militia group.

The community had to leave the Sinjar district of Iraq's Mosul in 2014 due to the Daesh attacks.

They say that even though the Daesh terrorists were rooted out of the region, other elements continue hindering their return.

"As long as PKK and Hashd al-Shaabi are in Sinjar, there will be no peace and security. Likewise, Yazidis will not return. Yazidi refugees will be able to return to their homes when the PKK and Hashd al-Shaabi leave Sinjar," Mir Hazim Tahsin Beg, a community leader, told Anadolu Agency (AA).

Beg said they demanded the implementation of the agreement signed by the Baghdad and Irbil administrations in 2020, which includes eliminating the PKK terrorist organization from Sinjar.

"We are worried about the implementation of the Sinjar Agreement. We want the Yazidis to return to their homes and to get compensated for their aggrievement," he underlined.

Lashing out against the Iraqi government, he said they were a "silent" spectator to the community's plight.

In an Aug. 3, 2014 attack on the Sinjar district, where Yazidis live, Daesh terrorists kidnapped and killed thousands of people, including women and children, or detained them in areas they controlled.

Some 300,000 people lived in Sinjar before the attacks, two-thirds of them Yazidis and the rest Sunni Kurds and Arabs.

The PKK terrorist organization managed to establish a foothold in Sinjar in 2014 under the pretext of protecting the Yazidi community from Daesh terrorists.

Hundreds of thousands of Yazidis, who had to flee their homes after the Daesh attack, have been living in the camps in northern Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) under harsh conditions.

Sinjar is located at a strategic position, some 120 kilometers (74 miles) from Mosul and close to the Turkish-Syrian border.

In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK-listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

Last Update: August 30, 2022 12:03