With the Islamic State gone from Sinjar, Kurdish groups battle for control
After Sinjar was liberated from the Islamic State, a new conflict arose among Kurdish parties as to who should administer the area.
SINJAR, Iraq — Despite the swift expulsion of the Islamic State from Sinjar in an offensive by Kurdish and Yazidi forces on Nov. 13, assisted by unremitting airstrikes from the US-led coalition, competing interests and agendas present a major challenge to the future stability of the Yazidi-dominated region.
Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces were the major driving force of the multipronged offensive, given their large numbers and superior resources such as armored vehicles, tanks and rocket launchers, compared to other forces. As many as 7,500 peshmerga troops took part in the assault, according to the Kurdish Region Security Council on Nov. 11.
That figure included Yazidi battalions headed by Qasim Shesho, a Yazidi leader allied with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which is the dominant party in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Shesho now commands 13 units, each including as many as 400 to 450 fighters, incorporated into the peshmerga ranks, according to Jadaan Darwish, a senior lieutenant to the Yazidi leader.
The rivalries among different forces in Sinjar are primarily manifested in the form of various flags flying high in the area.
