Iraqi Kurdistan

Eight Villages Evacuated as Turkey Attacks PKK Kurds in Iraq

Eight villages near the border of Iraq’s Kurdistan region have been emptied as residents flee a Turkish military offensive called “Operation Claw-Tiger” directed at positions allegedly held by the PKK, the Kurdish separatist party that has long been engaged in hostilities with the Turkish government.

Iraqi security forces and Popular Mobilization Forces patrol in Tuz Khormato, that was evacuated by Kurdish security forces, 130 miles (210 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 16, 2017. Two weeks after fighting together against the Islamic State, Iraqi forces pushed their Kurdish allies out of the disputed city …

Post-Islamic State Iraqi Kurdistan Faces Surging Drug Abuse Problem

The abuse of illicit narcotics in Iraqi Kurdistan is “rising year by year,” an official from the region’s security apparatus reportedly declared this week after the local government published figures on substantial seizures of heroin and the arrest of hundreds of drug offenders in recent months.

The Associated Press

Netanyahu, Putin Discuss Iran and Syria Threats

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Syrian conflict in a phone call Wednesday afternoon, two days after Israeli jets bombed an anti-aircraft battery near Damascus which had fired on an Israeli plane, the Kremlin said.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - JUNE 25: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a press conference at the Israeli leader's Jerusalem residence on June 25, 2012 in Jerusalem, Israel. President Putin is on his first Middle East tour for seven years beginning with a trip to Jerusalem …

Fleeing Iraqi Invasion, Thousands Flee Kirkuk into Kurdish Territory

Advancing Iraqi troops, backed by Iran-allied Shiite militias, are reportedly coercing “thousands” of residents to abandon the Kurdish-held multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, a testament to the ongoing altercations triggered by Iraqi Kurdistan’s independence referendum last month.

Iraqi security forces and Popular Mobilization Forces patrol in Tuz Khormato, that was evacuated by Kurdish security forces, 130 miles (210 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 16, 2017. Two weeks after fighting together against the Islamic State, Iraqi forces pushed their Kurdish allies out of the disputed city …

Shiite-Led Baghdad Punishes Kurdish Lawmakers for Independence Referendum

Shiite-led Arab lawmakers in Baghdad, Iraq, are punishing their Kurdish counterparts for voting in the independence referendum held by the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq last week, banning them from participating in parliament and urging the country’s judicial branch to take punitive measures against them.

Iraq Parliament