Iraqi army boots PKK-linked leader’s statue from Sinjar, arrests fighters
The Iraqi army has arrested several fighters from a PKK-linked Yazidi faction operating in Sinjar as part of an attempt to get them to abide by an accord signed in 2020 for greater stability and security.
BAGHDAD — As a cold snap puts thousands of displaced people living in makeshift housing at risk, the Iraqi army has stepped up its attempts to restore full control over an area of the country known for a 2014 massacre by the Islamic State (IS) but rendered unstable by a multitude of armed factions operating in it.
Over a year after an agreement ordering armed groups to leave the Sinjar area, the Iraqi army on Jan. 18 arrested several fighters from a Yazidi armed group operating in the area and confiscated their weapons.
The fighters arrested were from the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), from whom they have received training, weaponry and ideological instruction.
The PKK has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
