BAGHDAD — The Oct. 17 murder of 12 people from the Sunni community in Salahuddin province north of Baghdad has raised the ire of Sunnis against Shiite factions present in their areas, as they have accused the factions of committing the massacre.

Since the agreement that was signed between the governments of Baghdad and Erbil on Oct. 11 to normalize the situation in Sinjar city and which stipulated the withdrawal of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) from the city, the Sunni parties have been trying to obtain a similar agreement in Sunni areas where Shiite factions have been deployed since the liberation of such cities from the Islamic State (IS). Parties opposing the Shiite factions’ continued deployment believe these have now come to control the security, economic and political aspects of life in said areas.

In the context of discussing the future of the security situation in cities previously controlled by IS, tribal political leaderships as well as the Sunni community as a whole are now increasingly calling for the expulsion of the PMU from their areas.

Ammar Hekmat, the deputy governor of Salahuddin province, told Al-Monitor that there are calls for the security forces — including the PMU — to be expelled from the province. He said however that forces are needed to protect the land because, given both the size and complex terrain of Salahuddin province, "local forces are simply not enough.”