Yezidis again forced to flee as Iraqi Army attacks Yezidi militia in Shigur (Shengal/Sinjar)

SHIGUR, Iraq — Eight years after having to the flee from the Islamic State (ISIS) after being abandoned by the Iraqi Army and the Peshmerga of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Yezidis of Shigur (Shengal or Sinjar) are once again forced to flee their homes due to conflict.

This time, however, it is the Iraqi Army itself that has instigated the violence. On Sunday evening, the Iraqi Army launched attacks on the Shengal Resistance Units (Yekîneyên Berxwedana Şengalê, YBŞ) following several days of talks between the two during which the Iraqi Army demanded the YBŞ handover a number of its checkpoints around the region.

The Iraqi Army delegation engaged in the talks included Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah and Deputy Chief of the Joint Operations Command Lieutenant General Abdul Amir al-Shamri.

Fighting first began around the village of Sinune, in the north of the Shigur region, and spread to Bab Shlo in the east and near Shigur city itself. On Monday, the Iraqi Army claimed to have taken over a YBŞ base in Sinune, having employed tanks and heavy artillery during the fighting.

#Breaking: clashes between Iraqi army and Ezidi YBŞ units near Sinune, north of the Shingal region. #Iraq #Sinjar pic.twitter.com/3D5ucmzVDQ

— ÊzîdîPress (@EzidiPress) May 2, 2022

Iraqi helicopters were see operating in various areas of Shigur and several air strikes were reported in Shigur city, with locations in the old market being targeted.

Aftermath of yesterday's bombardment by Iraqi military helicopters against the main YBŞ base in the old market inside #Shingal city.#Sinjar #Ezidi #Iraq pic.twitter.com/IJlIoJCqFw

— ÊzîdîPress (@EzidiPress) May 2, 2022

A school in Dugure was bombed by Iraqi military helicopters. The Iraqi Army has claimed that the school was being used by the YBŞ at this time. Civilians in the village, caught between the lines of contact and with all main roads closed, have demanded they be evacuated.

Highways out of the region were filled with fleeing civilians.

PHOTOS : The displacement of #Yazidi families from the Sunoni & Dokrî again due to the clashes between the Iraqi army and the YBŞ forces.#Save_Sinjar#Save_civilians#Save_Yazidi_Ezidi pic.twitter.com/Br0iXij4xT

— Yazîdî Tweets (@Yazidi_Tweets) May 2, 2022

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is preventing Yezidi civilians currently outside Shigur from entering the area.

Yezidi Genocide by Islamic State

In August of 2014, during the violent conflict in Iraq, ISIS and other terrorist groups entered this conflict zone and took control of Mosul after the Iraqi Army and KDP Peshmerga fled, forcing minorities such as Yezidis and Christians to leave their historic areas in Shigur and Nineveh Plains.

Amid the inability of the Iraqi government and the international community to protect them, the Yezidi people were subjected to the most heinous, barbaric, and inhuman crimes by ISIS.

The Islamic State kidnapped more than 6,000 Yezidis during its attack on Shigur.

According to Nadia’s initiative, a non-profit organization set up by Nobel Prize winner Nadia Murad, more than 2,800 women and children are still missing, nearly 200,000 Yazidi are still displaced within Iraqi territory, and more than 150,000 live in Shigur.

Mass graves of Yezidis killed by ISIS are still being discovered. According to official statistics, 27 of the 87 discovered mass graves have been opened in various areas of Shigur.

The YBŞ was established to protect the Yezidi people from the Islamic State after they were left defenseless by regional and national security forces. The YBŞ is an official member of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) and closely allied with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan, PKK). The PKK, the People’s Protection Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Gel, YPG), and Women’s Protection Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Jin, YPJ), were the only regional forces that came to the aid of the Yezidi people trapped on Mount Shigur. While local Yezidis held off ISIS, the PKK, YPG, and YPJ opened a corridor allowing nearly 35,000 of the 50,000 people trapped on the mountain to escape.