Iraqi army chief-of-staff to inspect troops in Sinjar

By Sarhad Shaker

BAGHDAD (AA) - Iraqi Army Chief-of-Staff Othman al-Ghanmi on Tuesday arrived in Iraq’s Sinjar district, according to a Defense Ministry statement.

“He was accompanied [on his visit] by senior Defense Ministry officials,” the statement read.

While in Sinjar, located 120 kilometers northwest of Mosul, al-Ghanmi plans to inspect the army's 15th Brigade, contingents of pro-government Ezidi forces, and the border area between Iraq and Turkey.

On Sunday, Iraqi troops were deployed in Sinjar after members of the PKK terrorist group had withdrawn from the district one day earlier.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stressed that his country would not allow Sinjar to become a stronghold for the PKK, which established a presence there in 2014 on the pretext of fighting the Daesh terrorist group.

The issue is now reportedly the subject of discussions between Iraqi and Turkish officials.

In late 2015, Peshmerga forces loyal to northern Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government retook Sinjar from Daesh.