
American and other Western volunteers fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria recently told the Kurdish outlet Rudaw they were gearing up for a new offensive against the jihadists in the new year. One American volunteer recalled how thousands demanded photos with him on a routine visit to a mall in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
by Frances Martel5 Jan 2016, 10:29 AM PST0

A newly released video captured Kurdish freedom fighters blowing up an Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) suicide bomber, who was attempting to drive a Ford pickup truck carrying a ton of TNT across the Kurdish frontline near Mosul in northern Iraq.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.28 Dec 2015, 6:10 AM PST0

For the first time in months Islamic State militants mounted a major attack in northern Iraq late Wednesday, but its forces were soundly repelled by Kurdish Peshmerga forces aided by U.S. and coalition air strikes.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.18 Dec 2015, 5:09 AM PST0

To the extent the fight abroad surfaced as a topic, however, a common refrain reared its head, leaving many questions unanswered: “we should arm the Kurds.”
by Frances Martel16 Dec 2015, 7:30 AM PST0

Turkey claimed it would not remove troops already in Iraq, but agreed not to send more as it continued to work with the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
by Mary Chastain8 Dec 2015, 5:55 AM PST0

The government of Turkey announced Friday that it has deployed 150 soldiers and 20 tanks to Mosul, Iraq, to participate with the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
by Mary Chastain5 Dec 2015, 1:34 PM PST0

Heavy weapons from the United States destined for Iraq’s Kurdish peshmerga forces fighting the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) have arrived in Kuwait and are expected to be delivered in a month, a senior peshmerga official told Rudaw.
by Edwin Mora5 Dec 2015, 10:26 AM PST0

While nominally working against a common enemy—the Islamic State (ISIS)—the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a U.S.-designated terrorist group, has occupied a number of Christian Assyrian villages in Iraq. The Marxist group has also invaded a home owned by a commander of the anti-ISIS Christian militia Dwekh Nawsha.
by Frances Martel4 Dec 2015, 5:20 PM PST0

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The United States is expected to deploy up to 200 special operation forces to combat the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria, including some who will participate in ground combat operations, U.S. defense officials have said.
by Edwin Mora2 Dec 2015, 9:25 PM PST0

The Iraqi Kurdistan military, known as the Peshmerga, boast hundreds of female recruits fighting the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
by Mary Chastain1 Dec 2015, 7:55 AM PST0

Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani suggested in an interview this week that his forces, the Kurdish Peshmerga, could travel to Raqqa, Syria and participate in an assault to liberate it from the Islamic State (ISIS).
by Frances Martel23 Nov 2015, 12:18 PM PST0

The Popular Mobilization Units (Hashd al-Shaabi), a Shiite militia movement in Iraq, has continued to attack Kurdish territory in an attempt to push back Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and take full control of the area, reports BasNews.
by Edwin Mora20 Nov 2015, 5:52 PM PST0

As the cheer of victory over the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) begins to dim in newly liberated Sinjar, Iraq, Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have begun the work of rebuilding a city ravaged by the terrorist group. On Thursday, KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani announced plans to return electricity to Sinjar.
by Frances Martel20 Nov 2015, 9:46 AM PST0

After more than a year under the control of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), Kurdish Peshmerga forces have liberated Sinjar City. As the impromptu street parades end and the local Yazidi population slowly trickles back in, civilians must begin the arduous reconstruction of a city in ruins.
by Frances Martel16 Nov 2015, 11:28 AM PST0

Kurdish forces are reporting they have uncovered two mass graves while on patrol in Sinjar, Iraq, on Sunday, after liberating that city from the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) control.
by Jordan Schachtel16 Nov 2015, 5:59 AM PST0

After the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) captured Sinjar, the surviving Yazidis fled onto Mount Sinjar. A year later, those forced from their homes will do anything to take back everything stolen by the terrorist group.
by Mary Chastain9 Nov 2015, 2:24 PM PST0

The war against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) has reportedly presented an old gun shop in the Iraqi Kurdistan capital of Erbil with opportunities for new streams of revenue.
by Edwin Mora9 Nov 2015, 9:50 AM PST0

The life of a Kurdish peshmerga fighter is not easy. Rudaw reports on the latest hardship bedeviling those on the front lines against ISIS: Swarms of insects, large and aggressive enough to raise concerns about the health of those caught in their path.
by John Hayward8 Nov 2015, 7:35 PM PST0

Yazidi militias organized to fight the Islamic State in Sinjar, northern Iraq are protesting that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Marxist terrorist group operating out of Syria and Turkey, have prevented them from launching a mission to recapture Sinjar City after the terrorists stormed the region in 2014.
by Frances Martel6 Nov 2015, 7:33 AM PST0

The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) launched a relatively rare attack behind Kurdish lines in northern Iraq, briefly occupying a local government compound located in the vicinity of several oil-producing fields.
by Edwin Mora5 Nov 2015, 5:40 PM PST0

SINJAR MOUNTAIN, Iraq– While the U.S. is claiming to be on the move against ISIS, the reality on the ground is that ISIS has brought in more than 100 vehicles as reinforcements in the Sinjar area alone, with an increase in heavy shelling by Islamic State on Sinjar Mountain.
by Tera Dahl3 Nov 2015, 9:24 AM PST0

The Islamic State released video of their beheading of four captured Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers at the site of the October 22 raid by American and Kurdish forces.
by John Hayward30 Oct 2015, 7:36 PM PST0

The “courageous” American soldier who was fatally wounded in a rescue mission in Iraq sacrificed his life to save 70 hostages whose “graves had already been dug” and were about to be “brutally” executed by the “barbaric” Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS), U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters at the Pentagon.
by Edwin Mora24 Oct 2015, 6:59 AM PST0

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, reacted “positively” to the idea of working with some rebel groups in the region against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), particularly the Kurds.
by Frances Martel23 Oct 2015, 7:25 AM PST0

Contents: Joint US-Kurdish operation in Iraq rescues 70 hostages from ISIS, one American killed; Administration denies that combat use of American soldiers was ‘mission creep’
by John J. Xenakis23 Oct 2015, 6:09 AM PST0