Iraqi government’s Sinjar projects fall short, official says

Shafaq News/ Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani’s newly announced projects to rebuild Sinjar District and Nineveh Plains are “insufficient” to meet the region’s urgent needs, Khadida Joki, director of Snune subdistrict in Sinjar, said on Saturday.

“These initiatives do not compensate for the destruction caused by ISIS in 2014,” Joki told Shafaq News, advocating for direct financial aid instead. “Nearly all residents—99%—have yet to receive reparations,” he added, emphasizing that assisting displaced families in Kurdistan Region camps should take priority over infrastructure projects.

Joki highlighted critical unmet needs, including the West Tigris water project, which would supply Zummar, Sinjar, and Al-Baaj, and the expansion of Snune Hospital to accommodate the area's growing population.

Meanwhile, Haider Shesho, commander of Ezidkhan Protection Units, acknowledged that the 18 billion Iraqi dinar (13.68 million USD) budget allocated for the projects is inadequate for large-scale development. “The funding mainly covers road construction between districts and villages,” he told Shafaq News. However, he welcomed the initiative, noting that it would create job opportunities for locals.

Shesho also urged the government not to link Sinjar District with the Nineveh Plains areas due to its “unique characteristics."

Earlier in the day, Al-Sudani launched 14 infrastructure projects in Sinjar and the Nineveh Plains, as part of the first batch of infrastructure and rehabilitation initiatives in these areas.

Sinjar’s Path to Recovery

Sinjar suffered immense devastation during ISIS’s 2014 offensive, which targeted the Yazidi community in a campaign of mass executions and enslavement. Among the worst atrocities was the Kojo massacre, where hundreds of men were killed and women abducted.

In November 2015, Kurdish Peshmerga forces, with support from the Global Coalition, liberated Sinjar from ISIS control. Two years later, the Iraqi government declared Nineveh province free of ISIS, marking the group's military defeat in the country. Despite these victories, thousands of Yazidis remain displaced, and efforts to locate what remains of the 6,400 women and children abducted by ISIS continue.