Peshmerga

As US considers cutting funds from Kurdish forces, concerns rise over stability in Middle East

The Peshmerga have played a key role over the years fighting ISIS and securing the autonomous Kurdistan Region. However, efforts to reform them have not proceeded as planned.

A group of young male and female Peshmergas belonging to the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), near one of their bases in the mountains of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, 35 miles from the Iranian border, on January 17, 2026.
 Ghazal Molan, the youngest female Peshmerga opposed to the Islamic Republic, had joined Kurdish armed opposition forces across the border at the age of 18 and died on Tuesday evening.

Ghazal, youngest female Kurdish Peshmerga, dies after IRGC strike and medical neglect

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio walks on the day of classified briefings for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on the situation in Iran, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, March 3, 2026.

Rubio holds call with Iraqi Kurdish leader, State Department says

SMOKE RISES from the site of a drone crash on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq, March 12, 2026.

Iran-backed Iraqi militias attack Kurdistan over 450 times since beginning of war


The Kurds under attack

The Jerusalem Post

Kurdish-Iranian groups support protests for democracy in Iran

Kurds complain of ethnic, political and economic oppression.

People protest in Tehran, Iran December 30, 2017 in this picture obtained from social media

Five reasons US comments on staying in Syria matter

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says US is shifting to stabilizing eastern Syria, which will mean more diplomats and contractors.

Jim Mattis

The enemies of Kurdistan are the enemies of the US

If the West has any moral integrity and, for that matter, sense of self-preservation, it will throw its full weight behind the Iraqi Kurds.

PESHMERGA FORCES ride on military vehicles in the town of Bashiqa, after it was recaptured from the Islamic State, east of Mosul, last year.

Iraq launches new offensives against Kurds

The battles come after a momentous ten days in Iraq that saw Iraqi Security Forces take over large swaths of territory as Peshmerga withdrew from Kirkuk and Sinjar.

A vehicle of the Iraqi Federal police is seen on a street in Kirkuk, Iraq October 19, 2017. Picture taken October 19, 2017.

Baghdad-Kurdistan dispute shifts control over Yazidi genocide sites

Iraq has deployed its military to assert control over Mount Sinjar, the site of 40 mass graves from ISIS's genocide of the Yazidis who lived there.

Two photos of mass grave sites near Sinjar in 2015 of Yazidis who were mass murdered by ISIS in the 2014 genocide.

Iraq paramilitaries battle Kurds in push towards Turkish border oil hub

Baghdad responded to the Kurdish independence referendum by seizing back the city of Kirkuk, the oil-producing areas around it, and other territory that the Kurds had captured from the Islamic State.

Kurdish Peshmarga forces are seen near Altun Kupri, between Kirkuk and Erbil

Surrender to the victor, not the spectators

Something unexpected given the Kurdish position during the Iraq war, where Kurdistan became a heaven for American soldiers.

Volunteers and Peshmerga forces carry their weapons north of Kirkuk, Iraq October 16, 2017.

Iraqi army attacks Kurdish forces on road to Erbil

According to local reports the Kurdish forces near Altun Kupri tried to blow up a bridge to slow the Iraqi advance.

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are seen yesterday in the Karez area west of Mosul, Iraq.

Iraqi forces complete Kirkuk province takeover after clashes with Kurds

The Iraqi central government forces have advanced into Kirkuk province largely unopposed as most Peshmerga forces withdrew without a fight.

A vehicle of the Iraqi Federal police is seen on a street in Kirkuk, Iraq October 19, 2017. Picture taken October 19, 2017.