Kurds

The Kurdish Counter-Terrorism Group, are most the elite of the Kurdish Peshmerga.

The makeshift mortar looked like something from an old pirate ship, and it took the Kurdish fighters several days to figure out how to use the improvised weapon seized in a skirmish with ISIS. When they finally did, they crouched behind sandbags and launched a series of homemade shells found with the device at a […]

Daesh used more than 30 car bombs in its Ramadi offensive. Many of these involved armored U.S. HMMWVs and some of the bombs were large enough to level an entire city block.

The ground force, under SDF and YPG Command, has sent forth approximately 25,000 Kurdish and Syrian guerilla fighters.

The Kurdish freedom fighters of the YPG (People’s Protection Units) have been fighting and dying in their war against ISIS in Syria. They’ve put up a noble fight to the utmost of their ability. They are competent on the battlefield and are seeking to establish a democratic state in Rojava. But as easy as it […]

In the footage, troops are clearly behind the lines, as they are operating from recently constructed berms. One soldier is likely operating a Leupold Mk.4 spotting scope on a tripod, while the soldier in front of him is pointing an LA-16U handheld laser marker. The spotting scope contains crosshairs that would give the observer the […]

In February 2015, the Bundeswehr (German military,)  began training the security forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government, the Peshmerga. A contingent of 150 German soldiers is stationed in northern Iraq to train the Peshmerga in the face of the threat of Daesh [ISIS/ISIL]. The Bundeswehr camp located in Erbil, the largest city in the Kurdish areas […]

Kurdish Peshmerga forces – arguably the most effective ground troops battling the Islamic State terror group in Iraq – have been fighting for the past three months without a paycheck, according to experts and a top official from the region. “Unless we get direct [financial] support, we will not be able to continue the way we […]

I find that laughter is indeed the best medicine and really does strengthen the soul, one’s sanity, and unit cohesion.

Despite the hype and panic in the media, it does appear that the noose is slowly tightening around ISIS. The question remaining is what will Syria look like after ISIS is destroyed?

Turkey is experiencing a wave of terror violence, linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). These two non-state actors are also at war inside Syria, where the PKK’s Syrian affiliate, the PYD, is currently waging an effective offensive to take territory from ISIL in northern […]

After the main Syrian Kurdish group officially declared areas under its control in northern Syria a federalized autonomous region this week, the Syrian regime and opposition, as well as Turkey, immediately rejected the declaration. The group was also not given a seat at the table of peace negotiations taking place in Geneva. Despite not being recognized, the […]