Shafaq News / The deputy commissioner of Sinjar, Mohammad Khalil, confirmed that many families that returned recently after being displaced, have left the district again due to the deteriorating services and security situation, as well as the threats of "illegal" armed groups affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Khalil told Shafaq News agency that the displaced are no longer returning to Sinjar and its suburbs, and many families began leaving to other areas, most notably the Kurdistan Region, to save their lives from the PKK threats.

Moreover, Khalil revealed a PKK plan to use civilians as human shields, to confront the army forces that seek to expel them from Sinjar by force and implement the legal agreement between Erbil and Baghdad.

On October 9, Baghdad and Erbil reached an agreement to normalize the situation in Sinjar.

ISIS invaded Sinjar district in 2014 and committed a massacre against its residents, before the Peshmerga forces recaptured it the following year.

However, the Iraqi army backed by Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi invaded the Region due to the tension between the Region and the federal government against the backdrop of the independence referendum in 2017.

The Iraqi authorities appointed new officials in the district instead of the elected ones who left Duhok when the Iraqi forces advanced.

There are currently two local governments for Sinjar, one of which was appointed by the federal government authorities, while the second represents an elected government, which operates from Duhok governorate.