Consul General… US Urges PKK, Hashd al-Shaabi to Leave Sinjar

The United States urged the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Iran-backed militias of Hashd al-Shaabi to withdraw from Sinjar as their presence has made the situation there “even more volatile and unstable”, Robert Palladino, the US Consul General in Erbil, said on Monday.

The top US diplomat in the Kurdistan Region held a press conference in Erbil to discuss a range of issues, during which he stressed the importance of the Sinjar Agreement previously made between Erbil and Bagdad, to be fully implemented to enable the safe return of Yezidi IDPs.

“We believe that Sinjar Agreement is the best way forward to resolve the situation in Sinjar. We think that a durable agreement between the Iraqi Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government with input from local communities is ultimately the best way to resolve the situation in Sinjar,” Palladino explained.

He went on to state that the US is disappointed because there is “a long way to go” pertaining to key issues such as security and administration in Sinjar.

“Unfortunately, the Iran-aligned militia in Sinjar has refused to abide by the instructions of the Iraqi government, and this element continues to defy Iraqi authority… The PKK, which is present in the area and cooperates with the PMF, makes the situation even more volatile and unstable,” the consul general explained before calling on both groups to withdraw from Sinjar.

He concluded his remarks by hoping to see the formation of local security which could help the stability of Sinjar, and the establishment of joint Peshmerga-Iraqi Army brigades to secure the disputed territories again persisting threats.


Erbil and Baghdad signed the Sinjar Agreement in October 2020. However, the deal is yet to be implemented, mainly due to the presence of armed forces outside the control of the Iraqi government in Sinjar.

Earlier today, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said it was unfortunate that limited progress has been made in the implementation of the Sinjar Agreement.

Plasschaert encouraged Erbil, Baghdad, and other actors on the ground to intensify the efforts to fully implement the agreement which, as she said, is in the interest of Sinjar, Nineveh, and Iraq in general.

Source: BasNews site

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