Las dos muertes de Loco Fakhir
Muchos combatientes Peshmerga kurdos han muerto luchando contra el Estado Islámico. Pero la noticia de la muerte del coronel Fakhir Barwary el 11 de noviembre de 2014 tenía un significado especial. Eso es porque la muerte de Barwary fue noticia en dos ocasiones distintas. Los medios de comunicación lo... Read more
The Two Deaths of Crazy Fakhir
This story originally appeared on Nov. 18, 2014. Many Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have died fighting Islamic State militants. But the news of Col. Fakhir Barwary’s death on Nov. 11, 2014 held special significance. That’s because Barwary’s death has been reported on two separate occasions. The media wrongly declared him... Read more
Turkish Jets Bombed These Villages
Iraqi-Kurdistan’s mountainous border with Turkey is littered with abandoned villages, under-populated towns and bases for the guerrilla Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. On July 25, Turkish jets bombed villages and PKK positions after years of relative calm. But during a recent trip by War Is Boring to several villages... Read more
Mosuli Refugees Train to Retake Iraq’s Second Largest City
Mosuli politician Atheel Al Nujaifi is building an ethnically-mixed fighting force in Iraqi Kurdistan. He hopes the force — which includes Sunni Arab fighters — will eventually help retake Iraq’s second largest city from Islamic State when Iraqi security forces reach the city. Al Nujaifi is the governor of... Read more
A Peshmerga Fighter’s Tale of Survival
On Aug. 2, 2014 Islamic State attacked Kurdish positions and overran the towns of Kaske and Zummar. The attack broke through the Peshmerga’s defensive lines, forcing the Kurdish troops to retreat and regroup. Maarof Kabays, a 42-year-old Peshmerga fighter, was in a unit that bore the brunt of the... Read more
These Westerners Joined an Iraqi Militia
When an Islamic State blitzkrieg broke Kurdish lines in August, many of Iraq’s minority communities suddenly found themselves vulnerable. Thousands faced genocide, including Iraqi Christians who had depended on the Kurds for protection. Many Christians fled to Western countries in search of asylum. But others wanted payback. Several have... Read more
There’s Drama Between Kurdistan’s Two Best Frenemies
When Islamic State launched a full-scale attack on Kurdish territory last summer, it caught Kurdish forces by surprise. The Peshmerga’s hasty retreat exposed Iraq’s religious minorities—especially Yezidis—to the jihadi group’s religious cleansing campaign. Thousands fled to nearby Mount Sinjar for safety. To rescue the civilians, guerrillas with the Kurdistan... Read more
The Kurds Cut a Major Islamic State Supply Route
During the early morning hours on Jan. 21, Kurdish Peshmerga troops launched an offensive south of Mosul Dam to retake villages and strategic roads from Islamic State. “Peshmerga controlled more than 20 villages in this offensive and Wanke district,” Brig. Gen. Bahram Yasin—commander of Peshmerga forces in Sinjar—told War... Read more
Islamic State Threatened This Family—Convert or Die
On Jan. 18, Islamic State freed 196 Yezidi captives, mostly children and the elderly. They spent months as prisoners in jihadi-controlled territory in Iraq. The terror group released the captives at the Maktab Khalid gate—an unofficial checkpoint connecting the Islamic State-controlled town of Hawija to the Peshmerga-controlled city of... Read more
The Kurds Are Quietly Annexing Kirkuk
When Islamic State swept into Mosul in June 2014, Iraq’s army crumbled and fled. Baghdad’s troops also abandoned surrounding territories, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. But before Islamic State could move in, Kurdish Peshmerga forces swiftly secured Kirkuk. The ethnically diverse city is home to Kurds, Arabs and... Read more