Shafaq News – Sinjar

The Sinjar Protection Units (YBS), affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), refused to give up their weapons at this stage, the Peshmerga Commander in Sinjar, Qasim Shesho, confirmed on Tuesday.

Shesho told Shafaq News that their refusal is despite PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan’s announcement of the group’s disarmament, noting that they receive support from certain Iraqi force.

He explained that most members of these forces are Yazidis from Sinjar who joined in response to the security vacuum created by the ISIS assault, as well as difficult economic conditions that pushed many to take up arms.

Khudeda Joki, director of Sinuni subdistrict north of Sinjar, told Shafaq News that if the Iraqi government initiated serious dialogue and reached an agreement that took their circumstances into account, a framework for disarmament could then be possible. He noted that their current structure has changed significantly, with many fighters now independent of political groups and others integrated into the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) under the state’s official framework.