Kurt

Peshmerga will return to Kirkuk and work with Iraqi forces

As the Islamic State increases their frequency of terror attacks in Kirkuk, the Iraqi Army will soon reluctantly be conducting joint security operations with the Kurdish Peshmerga thanks to pressure from the United States led coalition. High ranking Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) official, Rawand Mullah Mahmood, made it known that the United States is encouraging […]

Two Kurdish security officers injured in Turkish airstrike

Two members of Iraqi Kurdistan’s secret police, the Asayesh a organizations tasked with national security, were wounded by a Turkish airstrike in Semalka. Semalka is a Syria/Kurdistan border crossing outside of Duhok that has now been closed in the aftermath of the strike. Heavy bombardments from artillery and Turkish war planes have been experienced with […]

Manbij prepares for the Turkish military’s attack

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has now begun threatening to conquer the Kurdish city of Manbij in northern Syria. Manbij is the staging area for a large portion of the Syrian Democratic Forces as well as the United States military. Two coalition service members (a Delta Force and SAS soldier) were recently killed there by […]

PKK leave Sinjar under threat of Turkish invasion

With the threat of Turkish military aggression and airstrikes looming over northern Kurdistan, the PKK based out of Sinjar have made the decision to withdraw from the region at the demand of the Iraqi government in an effort to protect the Yezidi and Kurdish citizens there. According to Sinjar’s governor, Mehma Xelil, made it clear that […]

Hashd al-Shaabi raid ISIS terror cells

An Iraqi Federal Police anti-terror unit conducted a raid along side Hashd al-Shaabi forces last week against Islamic State sleeper cells in several villages near the city of Kirkuk. During the raid, one ISIS collaborator (a shepherd) was killed and  5 ISIS militants were arrested. The operation was executed at night. According to reports, Hashd al-Shaabi fighters went […]

Iraq plans to enter Syria to “fight terrorism”

Haider al-Abadi, Iraq’s Prime Minister, has confirmed that the Iraqi military is forming plans to cross it’s border with Syria in an effort to combat terrorism. The move comes in the wake of Turkish military aggression on Iraq’s northern border while Turkey simultaneously has conquered the formerly Kurdish controlled Canton of Afrin in northern Syria. […]

Peshmerga look to conduct joint security operations with Iraqi forces

The Peshmerga are prepared to conduct joint security operations alongside Iraqi counter parts according to officials with the Kurdish security forces. The move to unify their forces comes during the aftermath of the Islamic State conflict. Now that the caliphate has collapsed, ISIS forces are reverting to sleeper cells and insugency based tactics. A series […]

German private sector contributes to Kurdistan’s schools

Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) is a private humanitarian aid and development group out of Germany that has recently begun renovating schools in Iraqi Kurdistan. The organization, through its cooperation with the Rwanga Foundation, has been doing similar work for over two years in the region though. The Consul General for German, Kurt Georg Stockl-Stillfried, informed […]

PM Barzani blames PKK for Turkish military aggression in Iraqi-Kurdistan

This week Nechirvan Barzani, who is Prime Minister of the Kurdish Regional Government and leader of the PDK, addressed the issue of the Turkish military conducting cross border operations into Kurdistan in an attempt to target PKK militants via airstrikes. He told reporters during a press conference that the PKK is at fault and that […]

Kurdish PUK works to repair their relationship with Turkey

Jalal Talabani, who died mid last year, was the founder and for a long time leader of the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan). For a time there was a cease fire between Turkey and the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) because of a deal he brokered. It all fell apart very quickly when the PKK abducted […]

KRG employees conduct protests and strikes amid salary cuts

Kurdistan’s Regional Government will convene this week to debate altering the current salary-saving system, a concept that has been the subject of controversy and negative feedback since its proposal. The Council of Ministers for the KRG holding a meeting is taking place in the wake of mass protests by government employees demanding an abolition of […]

Coalition forces support establishing a modern Peshmerga

Nechirvan Barzani, Kurdistan’s Prime Minister, held a meeting with a delegation of British civilian and military officials this week to discuss the modernization of Iraqi Kurdistan’s military forces, specifically the Peshmerga. The meeting was attended by several KRG officials to include deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. A statement released […]