A Yazidi militia known as the Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) has accused Iraq’s prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, of colluding with Turkey as Iraqi forces seek to wrest full control of the Yazidi-dominated Sinjar area bordering Syria.
A YBS spokesman said that it was “no coincidence” that the Iraqi army attacked its internal security forces known as the Asayish on April 19 after they refused to evacuate a checkpoint in northern Sinjar. The move came as Turkey launched its operation “Claw Lock” to isolate guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in their strongholds in the mountainous Zap region northwest of Sinjar.
“It seems the Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi is coordinating with Turkey,” Serhildan Shingali told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview. Turkish military drones continue to fly over Sinjar, he said, and “Turkey’s goal is to create chaos in this region,”
Why it matters: At least three Iraqi soldiers and an unknown number of YBS fighters have died in the clashes which intensified Sunday, triggering the largest exodus of Yazidi civilians from the area since the Islamic State unleashed its genocidal campaign against them in 2014. The United Nations has sounded the alarm. “Deeply concerned about clashes in Sinjar with grave consequences for civilians. … Domestic and external spoilers have no place in Sinjar,” the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq said in a tweet.
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