KRG warns Coalition exit could enable ISIS resurgence
Shafaq News- Erbil
Security gaps and the withdrawal of Global Coalition forces could allow ISIS to regain a foothold in Iraq, Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Coordinator for International Advocacy Dindar Zebari warned on Sunday, while criticizing Baghdad for failing to formally recognize the group’s atrocities and address their consequences.
At a press conference, Zebari accused the federal government of failing to acknowledge “the full extent” of ISIS crimes, particularly in Kurdish territories outside the Kurdistan Region’s administration. After seizing those areas in 2014, ISIS committed mass killings, genocide, terrorist attacks, forced displacement, and human and drug trafficking, he said, urging Baghdad to establish a specialized court to document the atrocities, secure their legal recognition nationally and internationally, and prosecute those responsible.
Read more: ISIS hits Iraqi night surveillance twice in 24 hours in Kirkuk's Hawija
He also linked the prolonged displacement of families who fled to central and southern Iraq or the Kurdistan Region to persistent insecurity and stalled reconstruction in former ISIS-held territories.
In Sinjar, Zebari criticized the failure to implement the UN-brokered agreement between Baghdad and Erbil aimed at restoring government authority over the district. An unidentified armed group still controls local affairs and makes decisions through unclear channels, he said, while reconstruction remains stalled and displaced residents are unable to return.
Read more: Over 110,000 Sinjar residents still displaced after nearly 12 years
