The Protection Force of Êzîdxan (HPÊ) (, ar, قوة حماية ايزيدخان), is a Kurdish

Yazidi Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The ma ...

military force founded by

Haydar Shesho Haydar Shesho is a Kurdish Yazidi military commander in Iraq. He is the founder and supreme commander of the Yazidi self-defense militia Protection Force of Ezidkhan (HPÊ). Life Shesho's family emigrated from Iraq under Saddam Hussein in 1990 ...

in the summer of 2014 in respond to the

Sinjar massacre The Sinjar massacre () marked the beginning of the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL, the killing and abduction of thousands of Yazidi men, women and children. It took place in August 2014 in Sinjar city and Sinjar District in Iraq's Nineveh Governo ...

. It was bigger than the other main Yazidi militia who took part in the liberation of

Sinjar Sinjar ( ar, سنجار, Sinjār; ku, شنگال, translit=Şingal, syr, ܫܝܓܪ, Shingar) is a town in the Sinjar District of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. It is located about five kilometers south of the Sinjar Mountains. Its ...

from

Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

, the

Sinjar Resistance Units Sinjar ( ar, سنجار, Sinjār; ku, شنگال, translit=Şingal, syr, ܫܝܓܪ, Shingar) is a town in the Sinjar District of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. It is located about five kilometers south of the Sinjar Mountains. Its p ...

, which is aligned with the

PKK The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of southea ...

-backed

Kurdistan Communities Union The Kurdistan Communities Union ( ku, Koma Civakên Kurdistanê, italic=yes, KCK) is a Kurdish political organization committed to implementing Abdullah Öcalan's ideology of democratic confederalism. Öcalan, Abdullahbr>Declaration of Democratic ...

. The militia was known as the Protection Force of Sinjar or HPŞ ( ku, Hêza Parastina Şingal), also translated as Sinjar Defense Units or Sinjar Protection Force, until November 2015, when it changed its name to ''Hêza Parastina Êzîdxanê'' or HPÊ. Haydar Shesho was arrested on 5 April 2015 by the

Kurdistan Democratic Party The Kurdistan Democratic Party ( ku, Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistanê; پارتی دیموکراتی کوردستان), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the largest party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional G ...

Kurdistan Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ( ku, حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, ''Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan'') is the official executive body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the ...

forces for "creating an illegitimate new militia." He was released a week later after it was negotiated that he would register with the KRG's Ministry of Peshmerga. He has been quoted as saying “We fight only for Yazidis, not for any party." In October 2015, the HPŞ participated in the foundation of the

Sinjar Alliance The Ezidkhan Command for Liberating Sinjar ( ku, Fermandariya Êzîdxana Ji Bo Rizgariya Şengalê), known as the Sinjar Alliance ( ku, Fermandariya Hevbeş a Şengalê, i.e. ''Sinjar Joint Command''), is a joint command of two - initially three - ...

as an all-Yazidi joint commando umbrella structure with the Sinjar Resistance Units, the

Êzîdxan Women's Units The Êzîdxan Women's Units ( ku, Yekinêyen Jinên Êzîdxan or YJÊ) is a Yazidi all-women militia formed in Iraq in 2015 to protect the Yazidi community in the wake of attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and other Islamist gr ...

, and other, independent Yazidi units recruited to the united Yazidi front. Under the joint command of the newly founded

, the Êzîdxan Protection Force took part in the successful November 2015 Sinjar offensive. The HPÊ joined the

Peshmerga The Peshmerga ( ku, پێشمەرگه, Pêşmerge, lit=those who face death) is the Kurdish military forces of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Peshmerga, along with their security subsidiarie ...

of the

in 2017. This, despite the warnings of

in the immediate aftermath of the liberation of

over a "war of flags".

Massoud Barzani Masoud Barzani ( ku, ,مه‌سعوود بارزانی, translit=Mesûd Barzanî}; born 16 August 1946) is a Kurdish politician who has been leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979, and was President of the Kurdistan Region ...

, leader of the KDP and the most powerful figure in

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also inc ...

, claimed on television that only KRG

were involved in the Sinjar offensives. ezidiPress quoted from the office of

: "the next battle... might be the most difficult: the abolition of the one-party dictatorship."

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ezidxan Protection Force Paramilitary forces of Iraq Anti-ISIL factions in Iraq Sinjar Alliance Religious paramilitary organizations 2014 establishments in Iraq Military units and formations established in 2014 Yazidi organizations in Iraq

See also

Notes

References