Sinjar security shifts to Iraq's central government as 2,000 PKK/YBS members join forces

Security and administrative control in Iraq's Sinjar region has passed to the central government. Around 2,000 armed members of the YBS, the PKK's local affiliate in the area, joined Iraqi security forces at a ceremony on Mount Sinjar.

Security and administrative control in Sinjar, in northern Iraq, was handed over to Iraq's central government. Around 2,000 armed members of the YBS, the PKK's local structure in the area, joined Iraqi security forces at a ceremony held in Çelmera, the highest point of Mount Sinjar.

About 50 officials from the Iraqi Prime Minister's Office, the Iraqi National Intelligence Service and the Iraqi General Staff attended the ceremony.

General view of Sinjar city center

Sabah al-Numan, the Iraqi government's military spokesman, said the step was taken as part of the government's program to collect weapons under state control and had ushered in a new era of security in Sinjar. Numan recalled that the constitution prohibits the establishment of armed groups outside the armed forces.

The Iraqi government announced in September that the YBS had agreed to lay down its arms. Türkiye has long viewed the PKK's presence in Sinjar as a threat to its security. In Türkiye, the development is being assessed as a regional reflection of the process aimed at achieving the goal of “Türkiye without terror.”

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