Peshmerga

Kurds won’t have friends as ISIL fades to the background

The Kurds ought to be our focus in the Middle East. They’re legitimately our friends. At this point, it’s clear we don’t know the Middle East better than Middle Easterners. But, we do know who has performed and helped us in the past. We ought to give the Kurds some measure of solidarity, because once […]

Peshmerga 9th Brigade: “no more volunteers…”

A Kurdish Peshmerga commander of the infamous 9th Brigade based out of Daquq, a city just south of Kirkuk released a statement today via his Facebook page addressing his English speaking followers, “At this time no more volunteers will be accepted into the 9th Brigade. The volunteers currently on staff are the final volunteers to the […]

Returning home after volunteering with Kurdish Forces

“War is a drug” – Chris Hedges These are just some of my personal experiences and I’m sure it’s different for everyone. It probably comes across like many men and woman’s experiences returning home from a deployment but in others I’m sure it isn’t; from cultural change extremes to sheer speed at which I was back in […]

Iraq to the Peshmerga: “Back down or else!”

With the soup sandwich that is the conflict in Syria ramping up, no one seems to be watching the ISIS presence in Iraq get snuffed out. The Iraqi government is watching however and they have a close eye on where their borders currently are. Their message to the Kurds was very clear last month; return […]

Watch: American Marine trains Peshmerga in egress drills

It’s important to practice getting out of sticky situations. The following is a video of myself and my colleague demonstrating to a small group of Peshmerga soldiers how to break contact with an enemy force utilizing fire and maneuver. While we are doing this as a two man element it can easily be expanded into […]

Watch: Interview with British SAS- Phil Campion’s transition into the media world

Phil Campion, former British SAS, sits down with SOFREP for an interview in London. In this episode, Phil talks about how he transitioned from the SAS to a life in the media. The first major step was writing his first book, “Born Fearless.” As is often the case in America, transitioning from the military to the media is frowned […]

Gary Johnson never met an Aleppo he knew

He equated our backing of both the rebels and the Kurds as a major contributor to the “mess.” But we all know it goes deeper, further back and is more complex than that.

Iraqi MP: Peshmerga will be considered occupiers

A member of the Iraqi parliament stated on Thursday that Peshmerga forces will receive the same treatment as the Islamic State (IS) if they do not withdraw from liberated areas. Mohammed Saihoud an Iraqi MP from the State of Law bloc, led by the former Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki, said that “if Peshmerga forces do […]

Syrian regime jets hit Kurdish positions, even after US warning

Syrian regime jets pounded US-backed Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria for a second day, even after the US-led coalition scrambled jets to protect its military advisers working on the ground. In another escalation of Syria’s bloody conflict, warplanes from President Bashar al-Assad’s regime were bombarding the city of Hasakeh — targeting Kurdish forces that for […]

Peshmerga launch operation to clear villages east of Mosul

Iraqi Kurdish forces say they have retaken five villages east of the Islamic State-held city of Mosul in an operation launched early Sunday. U.S.-backed Kurdish forces known as peshmerga aim to “clear several more villages” in “one of many shaping operations” that will increase pressure on the extremist group, the Kurdish region’s Security Council said […]