BAGHDAD — Iraqis are calling for the liberation of lands occupied by the Islamic State (IS), but ongoing differences between the parties participating in the liberation operations are obstructing this process. A new conflict recently emerged between forces affiliated with minority groups in Nineveh — including the Yazidis — and Kurdish forces from the Kurdistan Region. This conflict may delay the liberation process of minority areas in the Nineveh Plains.
After IS took over Sinjar in August 2014, Yazidis independently formed a volunteer military force known as the Sinjar Defense Units (HPS) led by Haider Shesho, who came from Germany to lead the liberation efforts. These Yazidi resistance forces even raised their own flag.
However, liberating the city from IS grew more complicated when several political parties vied for influence in Sinjar. While the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) made organizational changes in the city — upgrading its affiliate branches there from the administrative to the leadership level — the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) entrusted peshmerga officer Qasim Shesho (no relation to Haider Shesho) with the command of a military brigade presiding over another Yazidi force operating under the umbrella of the peshmerga forces. The other main party in Sinjar — and the most organized one — is the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Thus, three Yazidi militias emerged struggling not only against IS but also against each other over control of this vital area:
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