'All armed elements have left Iraq's Sinjar'

By Haydar Hadi

BAGHDAD (AA) - All armed elements have left the Sinjar district in Iraq's northern Nineveh province, the country's Joint Operations Command claimed on Thursday.

"According to the agreement between the central government and the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government [KRG], the federal forces are responsible for controlling the land and ensuring security in Sinjar," Tahsin Hafaji, the command’s spokesman, told the National Iraqi News Agency.

He noted that the federal police of the central government are present in the district and that the border guards are also located on the outskirts of the district at the Iraqi-Syrian border.

"All armed elements left Sinjar," the Iraqi spokesperson claimed and said they had negotiated with the PKK terrorist group.

"The central government and the Joint Operations Command have made great efforts in consultation with PKK-affiliated groups in preparing the grounds for the implementation of the agreement, pointing out that the Nineveh Operations Command is the one who manages the security file in Sinjar and other areas in the province," Hafaji said.

"There is joint coordination between the Joint Operations Command and the Peshmerga forces to impose security in those areas," he added.

Turkish security sources have not yet confirmed whether terrorists have left the region, and said the situation is being carefully followed.

On Tuesday, Iraqi security forces started to implement a deployment plan in the center of Sinjar district to enhance stability and security in the area that will enable displaced people to return home.

The Sinjar deal, inked under the auspices of the UN in October between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) on the status of the region, envisages clearing the region of the PKK terrorists.

The PKK terror organization managed to establish a foothold in Sinjar in 2014 under the pretext of protecting the Yazidi community from the Daesh/ISIS terror group.

Some 450,000 Yazidis fled Sinjar after Daesh/ISIS took control of the region.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat​​​​​​​