Êzîdxan Protection Force


The Protection Force of Êzîdxan or HPÊ, also translated as Ezidkhan Defense Units, Ezidkhan Protection Force, Protection Force of Ezidkhan, Êzîdxan Protection Force or Êzîdxan Defense Units, is a Yazidi militia founded by Haydar Shesho in the summer of 2014 in response to the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL. It is bigger than the other main Yazidi militia, the Sinjar Resistance Units. However, it is less active and armed than the Sinjar Resistance Units which has been fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant since 2014.
The militia was known as the Protection Force of Sinjar or HPŞ, also translated as Sinjar Defense Units or Sinjar Protection Force, until November 2015, when the militia changed its name to Hêza Parastina Êzîdxanê or HPÊ.
The HPŞ claim it is the only indigenous, independent force in the district while their members receive salaries from the Iraqi government. Other Yazidi militias are affiliated with various Kurdish parties. "We fight only for Yazidis, not for any party", claimed Haydar.
Haydar Shesho was arrested on 5 April 2015 by the Kurdistan Regional Government for creating an illegitimate militia. He was released a week later.
In October 2015, the HPŞ participated in the foundation of the Sinjar Alliance as an all-Yazidi joint commando umbrella structure with rival Sinjar Resistance Units, its all-women offshoot, the Êzidxan Women's Units and other, independent Yazidi units committed to the united Yazidi front.
Under the joint command of the newly founded Sinjar Alliance, the Protection Forces of Sinjar took part in the November 2015 Sinjar offensive.
In March 2017, the Êzîdxan Protection Force announced that it will join the Peshmerga and take orders from the President of Iraqi Kurdistan, Masoud Barzani.