Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

[Anthea]

Red Wednesday
The coming of goodness and blessings

Sir Sal, a Kurdish word comprised of two syllables – Sir (new) and Sal (year) – falls annually on the first Wednesday of April in the Eastern calendar

The Yazidis start their new year on Wednesday as, according to their belief, the creator created the universe in six days, and on the seventh day, Wednesday (a holy day throughout the year), the earth took form at Lalish, which makes a particularly sacred religious site for the Yazidis.

The remains of Sheikh Adi – a divine figure within the religion – are held within the main temple, which is believed to date back 4,000 years, and as a result, it is key place of worship for Yazidis. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

For Yazidis, the day starts at sunset and ends at sunset on the following day which means Sir Sal celebrations therefore begin at sunset on Tuesday, running until sunset on Wednesday.

Religious ceremonies take place in Lalish and across all Yazidi villages and cities. On Tuesday evening, the Baba Sheikh (the Yazidi supreme spiritual leader) attends the sacred Lalish temple with a senior cleric, the Beshamam, and other clergy. At sunset, a fuse made out of 365 wicks representing each day of the year is lit.

The temple of Lalish at this time looks like an eternal fire. In the Yazidi villages, residents gather on Wednesday to perform religious ceremonies and eat lunch together, with each family bringing a plate of food to share.

The significance of eggs and the colour red

Some traditions include bringing eggs, which represent the divine power from which the earth was created. The eggs are hard-boiled and this process represents the formation of the earth and its core in Lalish.

The eggshells are then broken, representing the explosion of the divine power and the demise of the ice crust that covered it. This symbolises durable force and eternal life on earth. Yazidi farmers then visit their crops and spread the eggshells as fertiliser, both to increase production and as a blessing.

Red anemone roses and eggshells are hung over the main entrance of Yazidi households to signify the good news of the coming of goodness and blessings and to welcome visitors. For Yazidis, the red colour of the anemone rose symbolises love and continuity in life. The roses are hung in three places close together to indicate the three months of spring.

The eggs are also often coloured in red, green, yellow and white using natural pigments. Traditionally, red onion peels are boiled and used to colour the eggs red. Lentils are used for a yellow colouring, and the local Tahliji plant is boiled and used to colour eggs in green. More recently, artificial food colouring has been used.

Children and young Yazidis also play with eggs by hitting their eggs together. Whoever gets their egg broken first loses and gives it to the winner. Children also visit other houses and are given sweets and coloured eggs as a sign of the new year’s celebration.

Villagers visit each other to share new year’s greetings, distributing a special bread covered with oil and sesame, called Sah Wak, to neighbours, friends and family members as a sign of love and peace.

On the Tuesday afternoon ahead of the Sir Sal celebrations, women usually visit the cemetery, placing eggs and bread on graves and giving some extra to the poor so that they too can remember their dead. Women also visit the graves of their ancestors, mostly on temple grounds, on the Wednesday morning, placing one spoon of bulgur on each grave while a flute player plays music.

As the Sir Sal celebrations draw to an end, Tawafat, a socioreligious carnival, begins, lasting two days until the first Friday of Eastern April, with the Tawafa ceremony held on the last day of the celebrations. Tawafat carnival involves dancing, celebrations and visiting the graves of local religious dignitaries. It is the plural of Twafa in Arabic, which means going around a place, while in Kurdish it means visitors.

Due to the significance to the Yazidis of the Sir Sal and Tawafa celebrations in April, wedding celebrations, house constructions and maintenance are all halted as everyone is expected to take part. Yazidis today are still committed to this rule and no other celebrations or events are scheduled in April that might distract them from the new year’s celebrations.

For Yazidis, Sir Sal is a joyful occasion and considered the best day for faith and worship activities.

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Young man returns home to Sinjar

after being kidnapped by PKK

Shafaq News/ A Yazidi teenager returned to his family in Sinjar two months after being kidnapped by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)

A local source told Shafaq News Agency that "the Kurdistan Workers' Party had kidnapped the young man and moved him to the Qandil Mountains to train him to become a fighter in its ranks."

"Idel Khalil Khalaf, 17, from north of Sinjar, returned to his home after his family demanded from the Iraqi army to pressure the Kurdistan Workers Party to release him." He added.

Sinjar is the historic homeland of the Yazidi ethnoreligious minority group and is located in northwestern Iraq near the Syrian border.

The PKK has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.

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Sinjar mayor wants PKK removed

The mayor of Sinjar in Nineveh, Mahma Khalil, announced on Sunday that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) prevented him and two Yazidi candidates from entering the city to promote their electoral campaign

Khalil said in a statement, "At 11:30 yesterday, Saturday, I went to Sinjar with my fellow candidates from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Majid Shankali, and Vian Dakhil, to promote the electoral campaign and motivate people to participate in the elections, but many PKK members confronted us and prevented us from entering, and they also threatened to kill us."

He pointed out that "Article 5 of the Constitution and Article 22 of the Elections Law obligated the government to provide protection for election candidates, but it seems that this right is being taken away in Sinjar.”

Khalil held the central government "responsible to protect us, and to provide the appropriate atmosphere for holding the elections, by finding a place for the candidates to feel safe, and for voters to practice their right to vote freely."

He called on the government to "work to expel this illegal party from Iraq and provide security and safety for the people of Sinjar."

Earlier today, the former Yazidi deputy, Vian Dakhil, called Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, and the United Nations to carry out its tasks in the elections in Sinjar.

The former deputy said in a statement; "After a non-Iraqi armed force coming from across the border prevented the candidates of the Iraqi Kurdistan Party from carrying out an electoral event permitted by the Iraqi federal constitution in the wounded city of Sinjar; urgent steps must be taken to grant equal chances to all Candidates within the district of Sinjar.”

Dakhil called on "the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to pay special attention to Sinjar and to what is being planned for the elections day, and we call on him to use his powers to prevent any manipulation or influence from any party with the voters' choices."

She also held the “United Nations observation team fully responsible if it did not take its role of observing of polling days in and around Sinjar. What happened today is a dangerous indication of the ability of some armed groups to control election campaigns and even voting on election day, with force.”

https://shafaq.com/en/Iraq-News/Sinjar- ... e-District

[Anthea]

Yazidi woman in Ankara released for $8,000

In 2014, ISIS gangs started a genocidal campaign against Yazidis in Shengal, with direct help from the Turkish state. While thousands of Yazidis were murdered in the attacks, tens of Yazidi women were sold in marketplaces, and the majority of them are still missing

Every day, the Turkish state and its mercenaries kidnap residents in occupied areas of North-East Syria such as Afrin, Serêkaniyê, and Girê Spî and demand ransom from their families in exchange for their release. The ISIS gangs, who repeated the Turkish state's practice, kidnapped a Yazidi woman from Shengal and transported her to Ankara, from where she was handed over to her family for $8,000 USD.

Yazidî Rojda (23) was rescued from an ISIS member's house in Saray Neighbourhood in Ankara's Kazan district, after her relatives in Canada paid $8,000 to ISIS gangs.

Before departing Turkey, journalist Hale Gönültaş had a brief talk with Rojda.

The following is the content of the interview on Kısa Dalga Net:

THE JOURNEY FROM SHENGAL TO MAYADIN

When their village was raided by ISIS during the 2014 Shengal massacre in Iraq, Rojda was forced into a pickup truck with her mother and three sisters. She was kept with her mother and siblings for the first three weeks. Rojda and her siblings were later separated from their mother, and she hasn't heard from them since.

For nearly two years, numerous ISIS militants bought and sold in the Syrian city of Raqqa following Mosul. In this entire process, women were exposed to physical brutality by ISIS fighters in addition to rape. As she was transported to Mayadin town, three and a half hours from Raqqa, by the ISIS member who bought her last in Raqqa,

Rojda wished to end her life. She threw herself from the open door of the fast-moving pickup vehicle and disappeared into the void. Despite the fact that the passenger car from behind slowed, she remained under the vehicle, and Rojda had bruises and fractures on both legs. She was taken to a residence in Mayadin that was run by ISIS women for treatment. Rojda lived in this house for a long time.

ENFORCEMENT OF ISLAMIC RULES

The house was managed by two women from Turkey and Algeria, according to Rojda. Women used physical violence to force Rojda to follow the rules of Islam. Rojda described her mental state at the time as "Empty. I didn't have any feeling.”

WOMEN PLACED IN DIFFERENT HOUSES IN DEIR EZ-ZOR

One day, Rojda and other Yazidi women were removed from the basement. They were physically and psychologically exhausted. The wounds inflicted on the bodies of Yazidi women are treated according to the instructions of ISIS members who had come there.

A short time later, ISIS men in two different trucks transported four Yazidi women and several Yazidi children to Deir ez-Zor. Women were placed to various houses. After a few weeks, an Egyptian ISIS member purchased Rojda. Then she stayed in the house, where the ISIS member brought Rojda, with his six children and three spouses.

After a while, news of the Egyptian ISIS member's death arrived. This time, Rojda was transported to a widows' home in Deir ez-Zor. After some time, she was purchased by a Syrian ISIS member. With the increase in air and ground operations against ISIS, the Syrian ISIS militant and his family fled to the Turkish border. They remained in Idlib for some time. Rojda was eventually sold for $200 to a Turkish ISIS member in Idlib. The payment was also witnessed by Rojda herself.

'TEMPORARY PROTECTION CERTIFICATE' IN EXCHANGE FOR MONEY

They crossed the border illegally. They stayed in an Antep city for a while. A Syrian ISIS member's application to Antep Provincial Migration Management for temporary protection for his wife and three children was accepted, and they were given identity cards. In Antep, Rojda was also photographed, and a bogus "temporary protection document" was prepared in exchange for money. After getting the IDs, they travelled to Ankara in a private vehicle with Rojda and settled in with the Syrian's relatives in the Kazan district's Saray neighbourhood.

RESCUED FOR 8,000 DOLLARS

Rojda had grown ill as a result of constant physical pains, excessive bleeding, and unending vomiting. The Syrian ISIS member planned to sell Rojda to her family and use the social networking program to contact distant relatives who had taken asylum in Canada. He showed his relatives Rojda through video call, had them talk, and said he could bring her to them for $8,000 if they wanted to.

DELIVERED TO ANKARA

Yazidis in Canada communicated with their Yazidi relatives in Europe, as well as international humanitarian organizations that assisted in transferring the Yazidi women and children from ISIS to Europe. The planning took them three days.

Some people in Ankara were contacted in order to get Rojda out of Turkey. Reliable people in Ankara got in touch with Syrian ISIS liaison connections. At midnight, Rojda was brought to accepters in one of Ankara's most remote regions.

Due to Rojda's bad health, she was given medication and serum therapy in a safe location for one day and one night. Temporary treatments improved the status of her health. With the efforts of international humanitarian groups, Rojda was brought a few days ago to the country where her sister, similarly rescued from ISIS militants and currently undergoing rehabilitation, is staying.”

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KRG continues to renovate Yezidi temples, shrines, and archaeological sites

The project is a part of the KRG Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs’ broader commitment to renovating all Yezidi temples, shrines, and archaeological sites in the Kurdistan Region.



Hashim Abdal, the engineer working on the project, told Kurdistan 24’s correspondent in the Shekhan district that the Pere-Khosh-Ava shrine includes a 12-meter high dome, measuring 5 meters in width, designed in accordance with the Yezidi spiritual council’s wishes.



The renovation project is a part of the KRG Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs’ broader commitment to renovate all the Yezidi temples, shrines, and archaeological sites in Kurdistan Region.



“The KRG pays significant attention to the Yezidis. It puts a lot of efforts and funds together to renovate our shrines and ensure the existence of freedom of religion in the region,” Masoud Mahmoud, a Yezidi resident from Shekhan, told Kurdistan 24. “We (The Yezidis) have to recognize and appreciate what the KRG does for us.”



In the past three years, multiple projects have been undertaken by the KRG to restore and improve Yezidi temples and other holy Yezidi archaeological sites in the Kurdistan Region’s districts and villages, including but not limited to the Lalish temple.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/27 ... ical-sites

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ISIS Leader's Treatment of US Hostage

A young Yazidi woman testified on Monday that American aid worker Kayla Mueller told her she was raped by former Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and threatened with death if she tried to escape

Lia Mulla, who was captured by Islamic State (ISIS) members in August 2014 as she tried to flee Iraq's Mount Sinjar with her family, testified through a translator on Monday at the trial of El Shafee Elsheikh, who was allegedly one of Mueller's IS jailers.

Elsheikh, a 33-year-old former British national, is accused of being a member of the notorious IS kidnap-and-murder cell known as the "Beatles."

He is charged with the murders of four Americans: Mueller, freelance journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and Peter Kassig, another relief worker.

Mueller, an aid worker from Arizona, was captured by IS in August 2013 while accompanying her Syrian boyfriend on a trip to a hospital in Aleppo, where he was contracted to repair a satellite dish.

She was initially held by the "Beatles" but then was allegedly turned over to Baghdadi, the ISIS leader who died during a U.S. special forces raid in 2019.

Mulla said she was taken by ISIS to various locations with other young women after being captured.

Eventually, she ended up in a prison where Mueller was being detained.

They communicated "mostly with their hands," she said, and a few words of Arabic.

"One day they took her and when they brought her back she was really afraid," Mulla said. "They had told her that ISIS wanted to marry us off, and if we were to try to run away they would kill us."

A couple of days later, Mulla said she was taken along with Mueller and another Yazidi girl to the home of Abu Sayyaf, a top Baghdadi lieutenant, where they would "treat us like slaves."

'Dirty house'

After a week there, she said they were taken to the "dirty house... the place where they took young girls and raped them."

She said Baghdadi came one night and took Mueller away.

When Mueller returned the next morning, "she was very sad, she was very nervous, she was crying," Mulla said. "She had been raped and threatened that if she tried to run away he would kill her."

Mulla said she decided to try to escape and asked Mueller to join her but she declined.

"She was afraid that if she was captured, she would be beheaded," she said.

But Mueller asked Mulla to "tell the world" about her if she managed to make it to freedom.

Mulla said she slipped out a window, climbed on a generator to get over a wall and ran for a long time.

After her escape, she said her brother put her in touch with a friend who was a translator for the Americans and she told them about Mueller.

ISIS announced Mueller's death in February 2015 and said she was killed in a Jordanian airstrike, a claim that was disputed by U.S. authorities.

Foley, Sotloff and Kassig were murdered by ISIS and videos of their deaths released by the group for propaganda purposes.

Elsheikh and another "Beatle," Alexanda Amon Kotey, were captured in January 2018 by a Kurdish militia in Syria and turned over to U.S. forces in Iraq.

They were flown to Virginia in 2020 to face charges of hostage-taking, conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens and supporting a terrorist organization.

Kotey pleaded guilty in September 2021 and is facing life in prison.

"Beatles" executioner Mohamed Emwazi was killed by a U.S. drone in Syria in 2015.

Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case against Elsheikh on Tuesday.

Elsheikh has denied the charges and his lawyers claim his arrest is a case of mistaken identity.

https://www.voanews.com/a/yazidi-woman- ... 26005.html

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One dead after camp fire

An overnight fire at an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Duhok province has left one dead and injured at least two others, multiple camp residents told Rudaw on Wednesday

Salah Jardo, a 26-year-old father of two, was killed in the blaze, and a woman was hospitalized as a result of smoke from the flames, with another woman having sustained injuries due to a "water tank falling on her neck," according to Faisal Ali, a resident of the Chamshko camp.

Chamshko camp is home to tens of thousands of Yazidis who fled their homes in Shingal district in 2014 after fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) seized control of their homeland.

Many Yazidis still remain in IDP camps despite ISIS being driven away from their lands, as their homes are in need of reconstruction.

Chamshko camp was the scene of another blaze last year, after an electrical fire burned several tents in the camp.

Fires and floods pose a constant hazard to many displacement camps in the Kurdistan Region.

Hundreds of tents burned down in Duhok's Sharia camp last year after a devastating fire swept through the camp.

Last year, an explosion at Qadia camp in Duhok, which also houses Yazidi IDPs from the Shingal area, killed two children, including a one-month old baby, and injured two other children.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/14042022

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Rescuing the Missing in Syria | Opinion

Easter in 2015 was forever ruined for Carolyn. Seven years ago, ISIS kidnapped Carolyn, an ethnic Assyrian, from her home village of Tel Jazera in eastern Syria. She has suffered unimaginable horrors as an ISIS "wife" since taken at the age of 15. Will we commit this Easter to rescue her and other women still held hostage by ISIS?

Carolyn's parents shared how she cried in terror as she was dragged from her home in April 2015. But Carolyn was not alone. ISIS forced thousands of Yazidi women into fake marriages, which were really kidnapping and rape. Trapped in a cyclical hell, Carolyn and hundreds of Yazidi women were bought, raped, resold and raped again.

Some escaped while other families paid ransoms. Unfortunately, many, many others remain missing. Yet while kidnapped, Carolyn's whereabouts are known, but she is currently beyond rescue.

Asked by her family and advocates to raise her case, Carolyn's parents told me through an interpreter, "We have heard from many sources that she has been in Al-Hol Camp since 2017." Al-Hol is a lawless displacement camp in the baron moonscape of eastern Syria. It is a holding cell for upwards of 60,000 individuals, many suspected ISIS family members or other sympathizers.

The camp conditions are reportedly harsh, and crime is rampant. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) defending this autonomous area of Syria guard the Al-Hol camp, doing their best with minimal international support and even less international interest to repatriate camp members. It is dangerous, thankless work. In January, the SDF fought a weeklong battle with ISIS trying to break out fighters from a nearby prison. Clashes within Al-Hol have also cost the lives of aid workers and prevented access to its residents.

Major international powers have chosen to ignore this problem. The U.N. special representative for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, recently referred to Al-Hol as "a ticking time bomb." Stating how tens of thousands of people are stuck in "limbo," the camp is more like an open-air prison. And among this group, victims like Carolyn continue to suffer at the hands of their victimizers, all trapped together.

The family knows of Carolyn being bought and sold at least four times. Reports indicate she arrived at Al-Hol in April 2019. She now has two children from these men, a young boy and girl. Escapees from Al-Hol report that Carolyn is very close to her children and will not leave without them.

The stigma of children born of rape in traditional societies has often placed mothers in an impossible position—abandon their children to return home or stay locked in with their tormentor to protect their children. Thankfully, Carolyn's parents want all three to come home.

"She is our beloved daughter, and we know that she is an innocent girl because she was forced to go," they told me. "We will welcome her home at any time with her children. We live for that day to hug her and her children in our arms."

But her parents cannot find her by themselves. And the SDF guards do not have the resources. I asked a representative of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political arm of the SDF, about looking for Carolyn and missing Yazidi women. They said they need international support. It is impossible for them to undertake any camp canvassing alone.

Tragically and inexcusably, rights-respecting nations have never launched a coordinated effort to find ISIS victims. This despite increasing global recognition that ISIS' brutal atrocities that began in 2014 against the Yazidis, Assyrians/Christians and others constitute genocide.

The United States has reached this conclusion (twice), as has Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Nations. And in November, a German court found an ISIS fighter guilty of genocide. But no search for the missing has followed.

Without a targeted effort to find the missing, these lost souls will continue to be tortured. The major powers mustn't look too far, with many victims believed held in Al-Hol. Yes, the Ukraine crisis currently dominates the attention of the world. Still, with a modicum of political will and minimal resources, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and others could launch a process to determine who is in Al-Hol.

A formal recognition of the problem would be a start. The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is drafting a report on missing persons in Syria. The U.N. General Assembly tasked the secretary general to research missing persons disappeared by the Syrian government. In this effort, it is also vital the U.N. highlight ISIS captives in Syria. Yet statements by U.N. leadership make it uncertain whether the report will include this neglected issue.

This Easter marks the seventh year of Carolyn's abduction. She and other Yazidi victims will needlessly suffer without action while families remain separated. As Carolyn's parents pleaded, "We ask everyone who can help us to bring her home. We pray she knows how anxious we are to have her and her children with us!"

However, until a search is launched, Carolyn and other women like her, will continue to live with their tormentors. We must not let this continue until next Easter.

Knox Thames served in a special envoy role for religious minorities at the U.S. Department of State during the Obama and Trump administrations. He is writing a book on ending 21st-century persecution. Follow him on Twitter @KnoxThames.

https://www.newsweek.com/rescuing-missi ... on-1698320

[Anthea]

Clashes between Iraqi army and PKK

Fresh clashes erupted between the Iraqi army and an armed group affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Shingal over control of the area, reported PKK media which linked the incident to Turkey’s new military operation against the PKK in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Footage, shared by the PKK-affiliated Denge Chira Shengale news outlet, purportedly shows a group of Iraqi soldiers surrounding a checkpoint in Sinune subdistrict controlled by the PKK-affiliated Ezidkhan Asayish.

The Iraqi army asked Ezidkhan Asayish to hand over the checkpoint but they refused, leading to armed clashes. Two civilians as well as a number of the members of both forces were injured but their identities remain unclear.

The clashes took place late afternoon and lasted for a couple of hours. However, the dispute has not been resolved, according to Rojnews.

Shingal fell under the control of the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014, leading to the death, abduction or displacement of its mostly-Yazidi population. The town has been controlled by a number of forces after ISIS militants were defeated. The forces are affiliated to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Iraqi government, pro-Iran Shiite paramilitary groups, or the PKK.

Clashes between the Iraqi army and PKK-affiliated forces in Shingal have taken place several times. The Iraqi government and the KRG signed an agreement in 2020 to “normalise” the situation which includes the withdrawal of all PKK-affiliated forces in the city. The agreement has been rejected by the PKK and its proxies.

The Iraqi army has yet to comment on the fresh clashes.

Turkey launched a new military offensive against the PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region late last night. The PKK media claimed that the Iraqi army is supporting the operation by attacking PKK-affiliated forces in Shingal.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/180420222

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Yazidis discuss Turkish threat

As Yazidis celebrated the renewal of life in the heart of the mountains of the Kurdistan Region on Wednesday, not far from a major military operation launched by Turkey against the militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) earlier this week, members of the Yazidi community told Rudaw English that attacks by Turkey are contributing to the reasons their religious minority cannot return home

Yazidis celebrate their New Year on the first Wednesday of April, based on the Julian and Seleucid calendars; an occasion marked by a ceremony held in Lalish Temple in the mountains of Duhok where followers of the religion gathered and lit candles. Yet as the Yazidi New Year began, the community continues to be confronted with challenges, and remains under threat.

Among the most irredeemably grotesque acts of the Islamic State (ISIS) was its attack upon the Yazidi homeland of Shingal, northern Iraq, on August 3, 2014, setting into motion the killing of thousands, and capture of thousands more, as it fractured the religious minority’s community. For almost eight years, the Kurdistan Region has been home to tens of thousands of displaced Yazidis, many of whom exist below the poverty line despite warm words.

“Turkey is one of the main reasons people cannot return again,” Nayef Sabri, executive president of Sunrise Organization for Civil Society Development, told Rudaw English on Wednesday, referring to the ongoing Turkish bombardments in villages of the Turkey-Iraq border.

In Shingal, fresh clashes erupted between the Iraqi army and an armed group affiliated to PKK over control of the area on Monday, reported PKK media which linked the incident to Turkey’s new military operation against the PKK in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. PKK media have claimed that the Iraqi army is supporting the operation by attacking PKK-affiliated forces in Shingal. Turkey claims it is rooting out the PKK.

Conflict continued in Shingal into Tuesday, a town controlled by a number of forces after ISIS militants were defeated, affiliated to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Iraqi government, pro-Iran Shiite paramilitary groups, and the PKK.

Sabri stated that the Yazidi community chooses to remain optimistic during these hard times, despite it becoming increasingly difficult due to a lack of support for the religious minority.

“Everyone knows that ISIS is a terrorist organization, but what about a country which uses its airplanes and bombs our region in front of the eyes of everyone specially [the] Iraqi government?” asked Sabri.

In the mountains of the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province, Turkey launched a new ground and air cross-border operation against suspected PKK bases, the Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced early on Monday. Dubbed Claw-Lock, the new operation is aimed at PKK hideouts in Metina, Zap, Avashin and Basyan areas, he added.

Ronny Saeed Hasan, 22, a Yazidi resident in Duhok and international studies and law undergraduate, echoed the statements made by Sabri, referring to the reoccurring Turkish violation of Iraq’s sovereignty as “one of the main reasons that Yazidis think there will be no future for them in Iraq.”

Saeed believed that while the current Turkish operation remains quite threatening to Yazidis in Duhok, it is different from previous threats as this one is not specifically targeting Yazidis.

“In Shingal, we feel we’re the targeted group, Yazidis. However, in Duhok, the situation gets more complicated because the areas that are being attacked are owned by Kurdish families, so eventually; I think all ethnicities in Duhok feel targeted currently,” Saeed told Rudaw English on Wednesday.

Both Sabri and Saeed expressed their wishes that the Yazidi New Year would be the beginning of a better and safer future for the Yazidi community, while also hoping for more support for the community from both the Federal and KRG.

“Besides all that, they are still celebrating their Eids in the faith of having a better future and being safe in their home, Shingal, once again,” said Saeed.

Clashes between the Iraqi army and PKK-affiliated forces in Shingal have taken place several times. The Iraqi government and the KRG signed an agreement in 2020 to “normalise” the situation which includes the withdrawal of all PKK-affiliated forces in the city. The agreement has been rejected by the PKK and its proxies.

A report by the UK-based Accountability Unit published last week on Turkey’s military operations, and specifically the conduct of airstrikes in northern Iraq, found that there are strong grounds to conclude that Turkey has targeted and/or conducted indiscriminate attacks, including airstrikes, against Yazidi civilians.

Since the the removal of ISIS in Shingal, Turkey has carried out dozens of airstrikes causing further instability to a region that suffers from high unemployment and lack of services. In a UK Parliament event to discuss the report on Wednesday, Dr Leyla Ferman attributed the continuing airstrikes by Turkey in Iraq as a major reason limiting the return of Yazidis to Shingal, citing the damage to properties, infrastructure, roads and electricity caused by Turkish airstrikes.

“Since 2017, Turkey has carried out airstrikes on more than 24 days killing more than 33 people, among them 13 civilians in Sinjar [Shingal] in Iraq, the traditional homeland of Yazidis,” she told a group of MPs.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/200420223

[Anthea]

Discussions in Sinjar on PKK presence

An Iraqi senior military delegation arrived in Sinjar (Shingal) on Saturday to discuss the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the future of its presence in the town

Kurdistan 24’s correspondent reported that an Iraqi senior military delegation including Abdel Amir Rashid Yarallah, Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Abdel Amir al-Shimari, Deputy Commander of the Joint Operations, the General Manager of the Military Intelligence, and the Commander of the Iraqi Infantry Forces have arrived in Sinjar.

According to Kurdistan 24’s sources, the visiting delegation will hold a meeting in Sinjar to discuss the security situation of Sinjar and the future of the PKK presence in the town.

The visit follows the recently escalated tensions between the PKK militants and the Iraqi security forces in the area.

On April 21, a different senior Iraqi security delegation arrived in the Yezidi-majority town of Sinjar amid skirmishes between the Iraqi army and local forces affiliated with PKK.

Clashes broke out on the evening of April 18 between the PKK-affiliated Yezid Khan Asayish (internal security) and the Iraqi Army after the Iraqi soldiers attempted to remove the checkpoints put in place by the militia. The clashes caused several injuries. The group also took two Iraqi soldiers hostage.

Similar clashes have broken out in the town in the past. Sinjar has still not been reconstructed following the war against ISIS, mainly because of the disruptive presence of these armed groups.

In October 2020, the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) signed the Sinjar Agreement with the support of the United Nations to “restore and normalize” the situation in the Yezidi town.

Per the agreement, a local force would be formed and put in charge of the town’s security. However, several militias with ties to Iran and the PKK oppose the implementation of the deal.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/28 ... K-presence

[Anthea]

Hundreds more flee embattled Shingal

The number of displacements due to clashes between the Iraqi army and a Yazidi force affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the embattled Shingal town has increased by over 500 people, a Kurdish official said on Tuesday

At least 701 families, consisting of 4,083 people have left Shingal and its surrounding area heading towards the Kurdistan Region, mainly Duhok, Hussein Kalari, director general of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Joint Crisis Coordination (JCC) said in a press conference.

The number of people fleeing increased by 583 since Monday when at least 3,500 had left Shingal.

Fierce clashes broke out between the Iraqi army and the PKK-affiliated, all-Yazidi Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) in the Yazidi heartland of Shingal on Sunday, leading to the death of an Iraqi soldier.

Ali Ilyas, the Yazidi Baba Sheikh (spiritual leader) on Monday called for de-escalation and urged both sides to keep the conflict away from cities and towns and use dialogue to end the skirmishes.

There are no confirmed reports on the total number of casualties from both sides, but AFP on Monday cited an army officer saying the clashes had “cost the lives of a dozen Yazidi fighters.”

The fighting with the PKK-affiliated force sparked fear among locals, who abandoned their homes and fled the area to seek shelter in neighboring cities.

The Iraqi migration and displacement ministry on Tuesday published a lower toll of displacements, saying "about 200 to 250" families have left Shingal.

Shingal’s Yazidis are familiar with fleeing their homes. Eight years ago, the Islamic State (ISIS) attacked the town, killing and abducting thousands of people, and thousands of others sought shelter in the Kurdistan Region, mostly residing in camps in Duhok. Around 200,000 displaced Yazidis still live in the Kurdistan Region, many of whom linger in IDP camps and live well below the poverty line.

Kalari stated that the majority of the people fleeing had arrived at the Region’s camps, adding that the KRG and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) are providing the displaced with "all necessary services and needs until the situation in Shingal stabilizes."

The Iraqi army has repeatedly attempted to retake Shingal from the YBS with limited success. On April 18, armed clashes erupted between the Iraqi army and the Yazidi forces, after the latter opened fire on an army convoy that did not stop at a checkpoint in the region.

However, the army now seems more determined to retake the region and establish control, with troops controlling several YBS checkpoints in Shingal since mid-April.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command on Tuesday said the situation in Shingal had been controlled, with the army and local police dispersed in the area.

An agreement was signed by the Iraqi government and the KRG in 2020 to "normalize" the situation in Shingal, which includes the withdrawal of all PKK-affiliated forces in the city. The PKK and its proxies have rejected the agreement.

Mahma Khalil, a Yazidi MP in the Iraqi parliament, blamed the PKK for the ongoing violence in the area

"This reverse migration is due to the insecure atmosphere created by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is attacking the Iraqi army and the citizens of Shingal and using them as human shields," he said in a statement on Monday, while referring to the situation as a "genocide."

Khalil claimed that the PKK-affiliated group were using “heavy weapons” against the Iraqi army.

The Iraqi army's efforts to retake the district coincide with Turkey's fresh offensive against the PKK in Duhok province. Ankara has repeatedly targeted the YBS in Shingal, killing many of the force's commanders and soldiers.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/030520221

[Anthea]

Displaced unwilling to return home

Despite rival forces controlling Shingal declaring the region "safe", Yazidis who fled the two-day intense conflict to seek shelter across a dozen IDP camps in the Kurdistan Region's Duhok province have told Rudaw they are unwilling to return, fearing for their safety and citing a lack of security.

At least 701 Yazidi families numbering 4,083 people were displaced from the towns of Sinune and Dugere in their homeland of Shingal, in the wake of two days of intense fighting between the Iraqi army and a militia group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Joint Crisis Coordination (JCC) said on Tuesday.

"There were untold numbers of fires flying over our house," Naro Ibrahim, a displaced Yazidi woman who fled her home in Shingal on Tuesday fearing the renewed clashes, told Rudaw that day. "Mortars and PKC bullets landed in our house. So, we decided to leave and will not return at all."

Having sought shelter in Duhok's Sharya camp, the mother stressed the ongoing instability in the Yazidi heartland which was ravaged by the Islamic State (ISIS) in August 2014.

"Do you know there is always fighting in Shingal, every day? There is no security at all. We are always in a state of fear. We cannot send our children to school, nor are we able to walk outdoors," she added, of the hotly contested strategic location.

On April 18, clashes erupted between the Iraqi army and the all-Yazidi, PKK-affiliated Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) when the latter opened fire on an army convoy that did not stop at a checkpoint in the north of the region.

Tensions escalated on Sunday when the Iraqi army attempted to control checkpoints held by the YBS, which connected key sub-districts of Sinune and Khanasur to nearby areas. The clashes led to the death of an Iraqi soldier and a YBS militant.

"This cannot continue like this," Sana Dawood, another displaced Yazidi woman, told Rudaw from her tent in Duhok’s Sharya camp.

"When you fight, you do not have to spill it over civilian houses, because women and children are terrified. Our children panicked a lot. We thought it would end at some point, but it keeps getting worse. Bullets hit our neighbors' houses, so we decided to flee," she explained.

According to UNHCR Iraq, there are currently 135,703 individuals, mainly Yazidis, in 15 camps in Duhok and Nineveh governorates, as well around 195,000 further IDPs living independently in the area, placing the total number of displaced Yazidis in the Kurdistan Region at around 330,000.

UNHCR Iraq Representative Jean-Nicolas Beuze told Rudaw English via email on Tuesday that the UNHCR is working with the KRG to address the needs of Yazidis recently displaced by armed clashes in Sinjar.

“It is imperative that all measures be taken during such security operations to protect civilians and if required, offer safe passage to protection,” the UN Refugee Agency official said, commending the KRG for their welcoming stand but adding that the “UNHCR continues to advocate for IDPs to be hosted in urban and other settings than camps.”

“Some 701 families (4083 individuals) have now left their homes - many of them had only but returned back to Sinjar in 2020 after having been displaced by the violence from ISIL,” Beuze said. “Close to two-thirds of them have however moved to IDP camps in Duhok, mainly Chamishko, with a risk of overcrowding and limited access to basic services due to a reduction of humanitarian funding.”

“For those in camps, UNHCR continues to advocate with the relevant authorities to authorize people to upgrade their shelters inside IDP camps in Duhok and across Kurdistan Region of Iraq ahead of the summer season, so that these temporary shelters may provide better protection from the elements and reduce the risks of fire hazards”, he added.

The Iraqi government and the KRG signed an agreement in 2020 to "normalize" the situation in Shingal, which includes the withdrawal of all PKK-affiliated forces in the city, although the agreement has been rejected by the PKK and its proxies and criticised by Yazidi activists for their lack of inclusion in the process.

A regiment commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) told Rudaw on Tuesday that the YBS must separate themselves from the politics and ideology of the PKK, as their affiliation is a key reason behind Turkey’s bombardment of the units.

There are strong grounds to conclude that Turkey has targeted and/or conducted indiscriminate attacks, including airstrikes, against Yazidi civilians since the removal of ISIS in Shingal, a report by the UK-based Accountability Unit published last month on Turkey’s conduct of airstrikes in northern Iraq found, causing further instability to a region that already suffers from high unemployment and lack of services.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/040520223

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PMF regiment commander Chenar Chalak

YBS must escape PKK ideals: PMF commander

The Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) must separate themselves from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) politics and ideologies, a regiment commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) told Rudaw on Tuesday, adding that their affiliation with the PKK is the reason behind Turkey’s bombardment of the units.

On April 18, clashes erupted between the Iraqi army and the all-Yazidi, PKK-affiliated YBS when the latter opened fire on an army convoy that did not stop at a checkpoint in the north of the region.

Tensions escalated on Sunday when the Iraqi army attempted to control checkpoints held by the YBS, which connected key sub-districts of Sinune and Khanasur to nearby areas. The clashes led to the death of an Iraqi soldier and a YBS militant.

Khal Ali, commander of the Lalish PMF regiment, told Rudaw’s Nwenar Fatih on Tuesday that the clashes began due to a misunderstanding between the PMF and the Iraqi army over leaving or staying on a site, noting that both sides are responsible for the recent engagement, which “should have never reached that level.”

Ali added that he believes the YBS’ affiliation with the PKK is harmful for them, and has a negative impact, adding that the PKK does not “trouble itself” with the YBS.

“They must escape that ideology,” Ali said. “It is a negative point and a delusion that the YBS has created for themselves.”

“Abdullah Ocalan does not trouble himself with them [YBS], yet they raise his pictures [in support]. The PKK has thousands of armed members and has been fighting since the 1990s, and has never troubled itself with them,” he added, referring to the PKK's long-time incarcerated PKK leader.

According to the 2020 Shingal agreement between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), security for the troubled region is Baghdad's responsibility. The federal government is to establish a new armed force recruited from the local population and expel all militias, although the agreement has been rejected by the PKK and its proxies, and criticised by members of the Yazidi community for their lack of involvement in the agreement.

Ali said that the Nineveh Operations Command and the PMF leadership have confirmed that the YBS was an Iraqi armed force and a regiment of the PMF, and that while according to the 2020 agreement all armed forces must leave the area leaving nothing but the local police and national security officials, the YBS have an Asayish office which remains active under the permission of the government.

The Iraqi army said on Tuesday that the situation in the Yazidi heartland of Shingal is “secure," and the deputy co-chair of the self-proclaimed Shingal Autonomous Administration, which the YBS is a part of, told Rudaw that “the situation is calm now.”

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/040520221