Iraqi Army’s deadline for pro-PKK groups in Sinjar has ended
ISWNews Analysis Group: The administrative council of Sinjar rejected the request of the Iraqi Army for the withdrawal of Sinjar security forces from the city.
The Iraqi army had given pro-PKK members until March 26 to leave the city of Sinjar. However, pro-PKK members have not yet left the city.
Sinjar Autonomous Council told the Iraqis in a meeting on March 12th the issue of its armed groups is political not security which requires a legal frame work not military. They passed a letter to of 13 points to Iraqi army whom promised to raise it to the senior commanders.
“Leaving our bases and handing it over to Iraqi army is red line and will not allow them to deploy in Sinjar Mount,” said Qasim Khalaf, co-president of Sinjar autonomous council.
It is worth mentioning that on October 9, 2020, an agreement was signed between the Iraqi federal government (Kadhimi government) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party over the Sinjar region, according to which a joint administration was to be set up for the city of Sinjar, and all PKK-affiliated militants, as well as Iraqi PMU forces, would withdraw within 5km of the area. The legal deadline for the militants to leave the city has now expired. However, PKK-affiliated forces are still in Sinjar, and this has become an obstacle to implementing the rest of the agreement.
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