By Ali Jawad 

BAGHDAD

PKK terrorists on Friday began withdrawing from the Sinjar district in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, according to a local official. 

“The withdrawal follows repeated demands [that the PKK leave the district] by the local population,” Sinjar District Governor Mahma Khalil told Anadolu Agency. 

“Sinjar’s local administration on Thursday officially asked the PKK to leave the area,” he said. 

According to the district governor, a similar request was also sent to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. 

Khalil went on to note that federal forces -- along with Ezidi Hashd al-Shaabi fighters -- would soon be deployed in the district to fill the security vacuum.   

The PKK first established a foothold in Sinjar in 2014 on the pretext that it was “protecting” the local Ezidi community from the Daesh terrorist group. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently hinted at the possibility of a military campaign aimed at dislodging the PKK from Sinjar.