The President of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government, Masoud Barzani, has appeared to take the side of the Turkish government regarding recently launched airstrikes against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), calling the U.S.-designated terrorist group “arrogant” and praising Turkey for taking a “positive” role in attempting peace talks with the PKK.
Iraq’s Assyrian Christian population is seeking to reclaim territory they have lost to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS) since they overtook the region last summer and to create an autonomous region for themselves–in a free Kurdistan.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official told a panel at the Middle East Institute that Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is seeking to break away from Baghdad in an “amicable way,” adding that the independence process is ongoing.
Reports surfaced from Iraqi media on Tuesday that 45 Islamic State (ISIS/IS/ISIL) jihadis were killed after ingesting an iftar meal commemorating the conclusion of Ramadan. It remains unclear whether the jihadis, who were breaking their Ramadan fast in Mosul, Iraq, died of food poisoning or intentional poisoning, Haaretz reports.
Turkmen groups in western Syria, close to the border with Turkey, are working to create an independent militia to combat both the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and any advances made by the Kurdish YPG forces, which have been the only group to enjoy success in keeping ISIS from sweeping through Syria’s border towns.
As a variety of Kurdish forces continue containing the Islamic State’s advance in Syria and Iraq, leaders are becoming increasingly vocal about the establishment of an independent Kurdistan, with some sources close to the ground telling Fox News that Kurds are dedicated to the formation of a new state “whether the U.S. likes it or not.”
Yazidi artist Ammar Salim, 31, uses his talent to show the world what the Yazidis suffer under the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/Daesh). His paintings tell the story of the Yazidi massacres. “I want to connect all that happened, to explain about the Yazidi genocide,” he explained to Rudaw.
Syrian Kurdish fighters scored a major victory against the Islamic State when they captured the border town of Tal Abyad on June 15. But now Syria and Turkey face appeals from ISIS fighters who want to receive amnesty in their home countries.
Kurdish pop star Helly Luv tells interviewers of her new single, “Revolution,” that she refused to imitate or fabricate any of the suffering in the war against the Islamic State in Syria. Wanting to depict the realities of the battlefield for the Peshmerga and ISIS refugees, the golden-heel-clad artist filmed her music video less than two miles from the front lines with ISIS.
NORTHERN IRAQ– The battle against ISIS in Iraq has come to a “standstill” as the United States and other Western nations provide insufficient weapons support for Kurdistan, while providing the Iraqi army with advanced weaponry that has fallen into the hands of ISIS.
A communist organization in Spain has been filtering Spanish citizens into Iraq and Syria to fight with the communist Kurdish PKK against the Islamic State. The fighters, most serving as snipers protecting Kurdish and Yazidi areas, assert that they have a responsibility as communists to “further the advancement of this region’s proletariat.”
The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) has published an article in the latest issue of its magazine, Dabiq, by jihadi bride Umm Summayyah, estimating that First Lady Michelle Obama is only worth $40 on the terrorist group’s slave market. Summayyah also defends the rape of thousands of Yazidi females.
REUTERS– Kurdish forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes are pressing an attack on ISIS in northeastern Syria that has killed at least 170 members of the jihadi group this week, a Kurdish official and an activist group said Wednesday. The official said Kurdish YPG fighters
The persecution by the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) of Iraq’s minority Yazidi population has pushed thousands to find any means to escape the grips of the barbaric terrorist group, coughing up hefty sums of money to secure their freedom.
Sheikh Shamo, a Kurdish Yazidi member of Iraqi Parliament, reported this week to Kurdish outlet Rudaw that the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS) has forced many abducted Yazidi children to be soldiers for the terrorist group.
A Syrian news outlet is reporting that Kobani, the Turkish/Syrian Kurdish border town that became the focal point of the war against the Islamic State before the terror group was ousted in January, is once again being targeted for capture now that the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga have evacuated.
The White House, Muqtada al-Sadr, a powerful Iraqi Shiite Cleric, and the Iraqi government have come out against a proposed U.S defense bill that authorizes sending arms and funds directly to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Sunni tribal fighters in Iraq.
Turkish news outlet Hurriyet Daily News travelled to Iraq to interview Yazidi women and girls the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) had kidnapped and raped. These females managed to escape or be released after relatives paid a ransom. Now they reside in refugee camps in northern Iraq.
A suicide car bomb struck near the U.S. Consulate in Erbil, northern Iraq on Friday afternoon killing three people and wounding eight others. One of the wounded included an American woman, reported Rudaw News. The incident occurred at 5:40pm in the district of Ankawa, which is a predominately Christian area and a popular place for Westerners.
A clash between the Marxist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkish armed forces (TSK) left five militants dead and wounded four Turkish soldiers. The fight occurred despite the PKK leader’s call for a ceasefire in March. Now the fights threaten to end fragile peace talks while pro-Kurdish groups accuse Turkey of staging the attacks.
Kurdish and Iraqi forces drove out the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) militants from Jalawla, which is 90 miles northeast of Baghdad, on November 23, 2014. While it should be a joyous occasion, residents cannot enter because a fight over the town is brewing between the victors.
Two members of the Kurdistan Regional Parliament fought early in the week in the auditorium over President Massoud Barzani. The action forced Speaker Tariq Jawhar to investigate the fistfight. “The argument occurred between the two deputies from (Barzani’s) Kurdistan Democratic
The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) has released a new video showing members of the terrorist group killing a Peshmerga soldier execution-style.
For the Kurdish New Year, rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan asked his followers to end a rebellion against Turkey. The conflict between the Kurdistan Workers’s Party (PKK) and Turkey is over three decades long.
Grammy award-winning Rapper Nelly visited one of Iraq’s most unstable areas this week, the autonomous Kurdistan region, to raise money for victims of ISIS.
Sen. Rand Paul proposes a bold foreign policy move: arming the Kurds and allowing them to establish their own nation.
As the elite Kurdish female forces fighting the Islamic State become increasingly well-known, nations close to the struggle have expressed increasing interest in these women. Israeli television aired a popular special this week profiling the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection United (YPG), who are fighting the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
The prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan, during a press conference in Italy, cited the fight to defeat the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL) as a “top priority” for his government.
The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) attempted to eliminate the Yazidi population in Syria and Iraq over the summer. After airstrikes pushed back the terrorist group, those who survived slowly began making their way home to identify loved ones in mass graves.
Kurdish authorities arrested six clerics in Erbil– an Iraqi city that has become a key safe haven for Christians and Yazidis fleeing the wrath of ISIS– on suspicion of loyalties to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
Officials in Kobani, the predominantly Kurdish city in northern Syria, have been forced to construct hundreds of tents for residents whose homes have been completely destroyed in the ongoing civil war in Syria, Firat News reports. Much of the city, which sits on the Turkish border, was completely ravaged in defending against the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group.
A video released by the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL) shows 17 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters dressed in orange jumpsuits and shackled in cages being paraded through the streets of Kirkuk, Iraq.
Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL) jihadists executed two alleged spies and crucified another to a road sign in Syria, the Daily Mail reports.
Kurdish Rudaw Media Network released a video that shows Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) militants prepping a 12-year-old boy for a suicide attack.
Rapper and R&B star Akon will perform a benefit concert in Kurdistan to benefit the families of Kurdish Peshmerga forces currently embroiled in a ground offensive against ISIS.
Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told Reuters an offensive to retake Mosul from the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) will not happen until the fall due to inadequate forces.
A committee investigation the involvement of Kurdish officials in illegally smuggling cars, food, and fuel across territories held by ISIS, largely seen as engaging in a business relationship with the Islamic terrorists organization, has implicated them in the trade and will decide
The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) attempted to capture Kobane, Syria, in September, but have faced intense backlash. The Kurdish Peshmerga and People’s Protection Unit (YPG) now prepare to completely take back the town from the terrorist group.
Dean Parker, a 49-year-old grandfather and resident of sunny West Palm Beach, Florida, has decided to make a dramatic lifestyle change and fight against the Islamic State’s (ISIS) jihad in Iraq and Syria.
Vatican Radio has released the tape of a phone call that Pope Francis made to refugees sheltered in Kurdistan to express his closeness to them on Christmas night.
