ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), an all-Yazidi force in the community’s heartland of Sinjar, is set to integrate into Iraq’s state institutions in an official ceremony on Monday, a spokesperson for the prime minister announced, as part of Baghdad’s push to integrate all armed groups.

“The military disengagement ceremony for the Sinjar Resistance Units will take place on Monday. This process involved integrating these units into official Iraqi state institutions and transferring security responsibility for Mount Sinjar to the federal authorities,” Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for the prime minister, said in a statement.

The YBS is an all-Yazidi armed groups operating in the vicinity of Sinjar that is linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The force significantly expanded in 2014 with the PKK’s support and played a crucial role in driving out the Islamic State (ISIS) from Sinjar.

In September, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced that the YBS will begin handing over their weapons to the Iraqi government, while eligible members will be integrated.

“This measure is part of the Iraqi government’s policy and program to consolidate all arms under the control of the state,” Numan said, labeling the Yazidi force’s integration as “a new phase of security responsibility” for Sinjar.

Earlier in October, Numan told The New Region that only Iraqis may resolve the security situation in Sinjar, explaining that Baghdad is working to appoint a new mayor for Sinjar district.

In the statement, the spokesperson further thanked the “significant sacrifices” made by the Yazidis in the fight against ISIS.

ISIS swept across vast swathes of Iraq in 2014, establishing a so-called “caliphate” with the northern city of Mosul as its capital. During its brutal reign, the group committed heinous atrocities among Iraq’s minorities, especially the Yazidi ethnoreligious community.

The campaign against the Yazidis included mass killings, abductions, genocidal rape, and forced conversions. Over 5,000 Yazidis were killed in the ISIS campaign, and some 6,000 others were abducted and sold into sexual slavery. Thousands remain missing.