The authorities of the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq announced on Tuesday that more than 4,000 people have been displaced from the neighboring Sinjar district to the northern region's borders since Monday, following two days of clashes between Iraqi forces and Yazidi fighters, before calm returned.
An Iraqi soldier was killed and two wounded during the clashes that erupted Sunday night between the Iraqi army and fighters from the "Sinjar Protection Units" linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the region in northern Iraq, a military source told AFP on Monday.
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Nearly five years after the liberation of the region from the Islamic State, the security situation in Sinjar is still fragile, as the stronghold of the Yazidi minority that was killed and displaced by the extremist organization witnesses sporadic clashes between the army and Yazidi fighters from time to time.
Following the recent clashes, "701 families, comprising 4,083 people, have been displaced until last night and headed to Dohuk Governorate," located in the region's borders, Hussein Clary, Director-General of the Crisis Coordination Directorate at the Ministry of Interior of the Kurdistan Region announced during a press conference on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government's Ministry of Immigration said that "this displacement is temporary, because... things have returned to normal" in Sinjar. The Iraqi Army's Joint Operations Command also said, as reported by the Iraqi News Agency, that Sinjar district is "safe" and "there are no armed manifestations."
Each side accuses the other of being responsible for the clashes that erupted on Sunday and continued until Monday.
In a statement on Monday, the Iraqi security forces said that Yazidi fighters had closed the roads leading to the village of Sinuni in north Sinjar, and set up barriers and prevented the movement of civilians in that area, and opened fire, and said that the army had dealt with its source.
In return, the Sinjar Protection Units accuse the army of wanting to control their area and expel them from it, while the Iraqi army wants to implement an agreement between Baghdad and Erbil, stipulating the withdrawal of Yazidi fighters and the Kurdistan Workers Party from the area.
The "Sinjar Protection Units" are currently known as the 80th Regiment within the Popular Mobilization Forces, which is affiliated with the Iraqi government. It was established with the support of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in 2014 to defend the city after it fell to the Islamic State.
In turn, Turkish forces frequently launch operations against the rear bases of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, which it classifies as a "terrorist".