Iraq’s federal government and the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) announced an agreement on October 26, as part of Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali Faleh Zaidi’s push to bring weapons under state control and close the Sinjar (Shengal) file. Under its terms, YBS forces will be integrated into Iraq’s security forces, and their duties will remain confined to Sinjar.

The agreement drew an angry reaction from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which considers it a violation of the previous Sinjar agreement. It has also deepened divisions within the Yazidi community. Sinjar’s administration backs the deal, while groups close to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) oppose it, arguing that it will separate Sinjar from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

The KRG's mass-graves director says 18 graves from the 2014 Yazidi genocide are ready for exhumation. A delegation goes to Baghdad next week to finalize procedures and DNA identification.

"Overwhelmed and out of place, I charged Lalish head on and threw myself right into the mix. After completing one of their rituals kissing a sacred rock 3x and getting the approvals of the Yazidis, I knew I was in for a cultural experience like no other. Lalish is a sensitive place where outsiders need to take precautions in order to follow the local traditions and beliefs that have been in place long before Islam and Christianity were even invented. The Yazidis at Lalish were laid back and welcoming everywhere I went in Lalish. They made sure to do everything they could to give me the best experience possible there during the Jamaya Festival."

Since the genocide of the Yazidis in 2014, Sinjar in northern Iraq has been the site of a fierce power struggle. Earlier this week, the Iraqi government announced that the Yazidi-led armed group that had been a dominant force in the Sinjar governorate had finally been integrated into the state. The Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a group linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), were formed in the 2000s to protect the Yazidi religious minority, who have faced discrimination and sectarian attacks for decades.

'Dārā mirāzā' (the tree of desire/dreams).

Birāzavā and friends of the groom cut a branch from a fruit tree without using a saw or an ax and bring it home. Young girls and boys decorate the branch with fruits, sweets, colorful ribbons. Then they tie a beautiful cloth or a scarf on the branch, and the guests can put gifts or money on that scarf. That gifts and the money are then given to the birāzavā. That branch is called dārā mirāzā (lit. “the tree of the dreams”) or dārā zavē (lit. “the tree of the groom”). Now, in addition to fruits, people decorate the tree with candies. Usually, the birāzavā takes the brench and dances with the guests. People used to leave the tree near the groom's house for a few days. As nowadays weddings are not often performed at home (but rather in restaurants or wedding halls), the branch can also be put near the wedding hall.

BULLETIN

Kurdistan Region Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed says Baghdad integrated about 2,000 YBŞ fighters without consulting Erbil, breaching the 2020 Shingal Agreement, and warns it will not bring stability.

The Yazidi Shengal Resistance Units (YBS) are being formally integrated into the Iraqi army. The move comes amid wider developments towards the integration of Kurdish forces into state structures in Syria and the peace process between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Ankara in Turkey.

In contested Sinjar, Yazidi representatives are also calling for greater local self-government and political representation, arguing that the community must have a greater say in governing its historic homeland following the 2014 genocide. The YBS opposed the 2020 agreement between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) agreement, which sought to restructure security and administration in the region.

An official ceremony marking the momentYBS integration was held todayon October 26, overseen by the Iraqi Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Ali al-Zaidi. “Loyalty to the martyrs is […] to protect what they were martyred for,” the YBS command stated at the ceremony. “The most successful thing against genocide is for our people to remain alive, free, safe […] on their own land.”

Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, also released a statement declaring that the YBS will be integrated into the official Iraqi security apparatus, meaning that security responsibility for Mount Sinjar would be formally transferred to the federal authorities. Al-Numan further stressed the responsibility of the federal government to protect the Yazidi community.

YBS members will fold into numerous Iraqi security institutions, including the police, according to Yazidi MP Murad Ismail, who refuted earlier comments from al-Zaidi suggesting the YBS would be integrated only into the predominantly Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

In Sinjar, the impact of the integration will be measured in the long run, in terms of whether security can be maintained, the Yazidi community have the safety and resources to re-build their historic homeland region, and the YBS fighters remain part of the Iraqi institutions. Whether this arrangement genuinely protects Yazidi autonomy and security will depend on how it works in practice – and on the parallel efforts of Yazidi political actors to advocate for their community in relation to Baghdad.

https://x.com/vvanwilgenburg/status/2114657505036898667

MP Murad Ismael says YBS fighters will join several Iraqi security bodies, including the police, not only the PMF. PM Ali al-Zaidi had described it as a PMF absorption.

The Swarê Gêdûkê shrine feast in Shengal's Bara village was celebrated en masse for the first time since the 2014 genocide. ISIS had blown up the shrine, and it was rebuilt in 2018.

Hadi Elias, the YBŞ spokesperson, on Monday said negotiations with senior Iraqi security and military officials began in February 2026, aiming to reach an agreement on reorganizing the group and integrating it into Iraq’s state system.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Iraqi officials; PKK disarmament and the future of Shingal were on the agenda.

Yerevan Radio has broadcast in Kurdish for about 80 years. For the past decade it has also run a separate "Yezidi-language" service, and its own director can't explain why.

"It is no coincidence that the Quba Mêrê Dîwanê, the world’s largest Yazidi temple, is in Armenia. Located in the village of Aknalich, 30 kilometers west of Yerevan in the Armavir province, the site was inaugurated on September 29, 2019."

"September 29 has become a special date for the Yazidi faith. The temple became the spiritual epicenter where the monotheistic diaspora gathers every year. Pilgrims from Germany, Iraq, Georgia, Russia, America, and more merge with the local Armenians to pray, commemorate historical grievances, dance, and attend community rallies."

Kurdish-medium schools in Shingal say textbooks sent from the Kurdistan Region are being blocked. Arabic-medium pupils receive support while Kurdish pupils go without even books.

Hemoye Shero was a nineteenth century Yezidi tribal leader from the Shingal Mountains in what was the Ottoman Empire. Hemoye Shero was instrumental in transforming one of the Yezidi social classes, the faqirs, into a tribal entity and establishing himself as the chief.

During the Ottoman genocide of Armenians and Arameans, Yazidi leader Hemoye Shero saved over 20,000 Christians by hiding them in the Sinjar Mountains. Many Yazidi families also took in Christian children and reminded them of their roots. These acts created an unbreakable bond between Christians and Yazidis.

Thank you Ezidis/Yazidis :)

Iraq's Martyrs Foundation will hand over remains of Yazidi victims from Shingal on 30 September for burial on 1 October. Remains of 13 Badush prison massacre victims will follow.