The Iraqi army launched an aggression against the district of Şengal in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) on Monday noon.

The district, the main settlement area of the Yazidi Kurds, is being attacked by Iraqi troops with a large number of armored vehicles, tanks, artillery and heavy weaponry.

Targeting the Şengal Resistance Units (YBŞ), Şengal Women's Units (YJŞ) and Asayîşa Êzîdxanê (Local Yazidi Security Forces), Iraqi forces are trying to enter the district with a large military force amidst reports of violent clashes.

Earlier today, Iraqi troops attacked the positions of the Shengal Resistance Units, resulting in exchanges of fire with the Iraqi army in the Sinunê town where a brief skirmish had taken place on Sunday evening and the security forces had managed to force the Iraqi troops to turn back.

Earlier on Sunday, the Iraqi army began surrounding checkpoints of the Asayîşa Êzîdxanê in Dîgurê, Sinunê and Xanesor.

The central government in Baghdad has been trying for a long time to disarm the security and defense structures in Şengal, which were painstakingly built up by the Yazidi community under the impression of the genocide of the terrorist organization ISIS in 2014, and to dissolve the self-government there. The basis for this is the "Şengal Agreement" reached over the heads of the Yazidi community, which was agreed between Baghdad and Hewlêr in October 2020 under Turkish direction. The agreement consists of a series of security and administrative measures and defines areas of responsibility for the authorities - to the detriment of the Yazidis who thus have no say in the matter. So far, the implementation of this Turkish-directed agreement has failed due to the determined resistance of the population.

For months, tensions and provocations deliberately caused by the Iraqi military have been occurring in Şengal. Two weeks ago, these finally culminated in the first confrontations. Previously, Baghdad's troops had attempted to capture a checkpoint of the Asayîşa Êzîdxanê at the entrance to the town of Digurê. Because the security forces there refused to clear the checkpoint, Iraqi troops opened fire. Two civilians were injured in the ensuing clashes. Yazidi fighter Faraşîn Şengalî lost her life in the shelling of YBŞ and YJŞ positions.