Latest news with #KurdishPeshmerga
Rudaw Net
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Rudaw Net
US-led coalition support for Peshmerga to continue: Peshmerga ministry official
Also in Kurdistan Halabja not its own constituency in Iraq's parliamentary elections PKK leader gives Makhmour camp residents hope of return KRG offers free online Kurdish classes for diaspora Suspect turns himself in after Halabja double homicide A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Assistance to the Kurdish Peshmerga from the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State (ISIS) will continue in accordance with existing agreements between Erbil and Washington, a senior official from the Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga Ministry told Rudaw on Sunday. The remarks come amid reports that the United States may be planning to reduce or eliminate support for the Kurdish forces. Lieutenant Colonel Bakhtiar Mohammed, secretary-general of the Peshmerga Ministry, confirmed that "according to the bilateral memorandum of understanding, the aid will continue until October 2026." As part of this assistance, the coalition provides an estimated $20 to $25 million in monthly aid to the Peshmerga. However, recent media reports suggest that this support may be significantly reduced or potentially redirected to Iraqi security forces, including the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), later this year. For years, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has sought to unify its various military units into a single, professional, and depoliticized national force. This initiative has received strong backing from international partners, especially the United States and its coalition allies. Central to the effort is the integration of Unit 70 and Unit 80 - affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), respectively - into a unified command structure. Together, these units comprise the bulk of the Peshmerga, totaling over 100,000 troops. Despite consistent international support, the unification process has faced recurring obstacles. Between 2010 and 2013, approximately 42,000 fighters from Unit 70 and Unit 80 were merged, resulting in the formation of 14 brigades. However, progress stalled amid internal political disputes and the outbreak of war against ISIS in 2014. In 2018, the process was revived through a 35-point reform plan developed with coalition partners. Most recently, in late April, an initiative to digitize health data for Peshmerga forces was launched as part of the broader effort to professionalize the forces. The US-based NGO Spirit of America funded the project. In July, Babakir Zebari, former chief of staff of Iraq's Army and advisor to the Kurdistan Region's presidency, told Rudaw that Peshmerga unification had entered its final phase and would be completed by the end of the year. 'So far, ten brigades have been formed. We are now on the final one, and the process will be completed this year. All forces will be unified,' he said. However, on Sunday, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed acknowledged that 'the unification of all Kurdish Peshmerga forces continues and has not stopped, but it is proceeding slowly.' He cited several reasons for the delay, including the absence of a 'dedicated budget' for the Kurdish Peshmerga as well as 'problems between Erbil and Baghdad have their own impact.' Another contributing factor, according to Mohammed, is the delay in forming the KRG's tenth cabinet. Following parliamentary elections in October, the KDP emerged as the largest party with 39 seats in the 100-member legislature, followed by the PUK with 23 seats. With no party holding a majority, coalition negotiations between the two ruling parties have continued for months. Another reason for the slow progress, according to Mohammed, is the delay in forming the KRG's tenth cabinet. Preeminent Kurdish leader and KDP head Masoud Barzani on Monday revealed that a 'better level of understanding' had been reached between the PUK and the KDP regarding the formation of the new cabinet, which he said would be completed ahead of Iraq's legislative elections in November.
Shafaq News
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iraq to halt work in Sinjar for Yazidi genocide anniversary
Shafaq News – Nineveh Official duties will be suspended on Sunday across Sinjar and the districts of Sinuni and Qahtaniyah, as authorities in Nineveh commemorate the 2014 genocide carried out by ISIS against the Yazidi community. Governor Abdul Qader al-Dakhil said the decision honors the victims and acknowledges the deep scars left by the atrocities, adding that all government institutions across the province have been directed to observe a minute of silence in remembrance of those killed. The August 2014 ISIS offensive on Sinjar led to mass executions, kidnappings, and the enslavement of thousands of Yazidis. Kurdish Peshmerga forces recaptured the district in late 2015, and two years later, Iraqi forces declared the full liberation of Nineveh and the final defeat of ISIS. Many Yazidi families are still searching for loved ones. As of August 2025, official data estimates nearly 2,600 women and girls remain missing. Recovery efforts continue, as authorities attempt to identify bodies found in mass graves across the region. Iraqi investigators have so far located 93 Yazidi mass graves in Sinjar and al-Baaj, though 32 remain unopened. Fewer than 700 sets of remains have been recovered, with only 243 formally identified and returned to their families. According to United Nations estimates, ISIS left behind more than 200 mass graves in Iraq, believed to contain up to 12,000 victims.
Shafaq News
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Joint Iraqi–Peshmerga offensive targets ISIS in Kirkuk
Shafaq News – Kirkuk/Erbil Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga launched a wide-scale security operation on Sunday in the Qarachogh mountain range, northwest of Kirkuk, following reported movements by ISIS remnants in the rugged area over recent days, A senior security source told Shafaq News. 'The operation is based on precise intelligence that also helped identify suspected hideouts and tunnels believed to be used by the militants,' the source confirmed. The operation is designed to hunt down ISIS remnants, destroy their infrastructure, and prevent any renewed insurgent activity in the region. The effort is being coordinated between the Iraqi Army and the Peshmerga under the supervision of joint operations command centers. The Qarachogh Mountains, straddling the border between Kirkuk and Erbil provinces, remain a strategic hotspot, frequently witnessing military campaigns aimed at denying ISIS fighters the ability to regroup and launch attacks on nearby villages and security positions.
Shafaq News
02-07-2025
- General
- Shafaq News
Peshmerga tribute statue in Kirkuk left neglected
Shafaq News – Kirkuk A prominent statue honoring Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Kirkuk remains neglected eight years after its construction, with visible damage and no restoration efforts to date, sculptors behind the project said on Tuesday. Despite its significance and strategic location, the monument has suffered from years of exposure to harsh weather and a lack of maintenance, Barzan Dalo, one of the sculptors involved in the project, told Shafaq News. 'No repairs or cleaning have been done since it was installed,' Dalo said, expressing that 'For those of us who helped build it, the current condition is painful to see.' The 23-meter-tall monument, depicting a Peshmerga soldier holding a flagpole and an AK-47 rifle, was installed in 2017 at the northern entrance of Kirkuk, near the Shoraw roundabout on the road to Erbil. It was erected following major battles between Kurdish forces and ISIS, serving as a tribute to the Peshmerga's role in defending the city. Mounting the rifle on the statue's shoulder was a deeply symbolic moment, Dalo stated, adding that 'It represented the spirit of the fighter who bravely protected Kirkuk.' The monument was created by the 'Ustad Man Group,' a collective of Kurdish artists, during a period of intense public appreciation for the Peshmerga's sacrifices in the fight against terrorism. Dalo criticized that, 'had this statue been an oil well, political groups in Kirkuk would have competed to maintain and invest in it. Unfortunately, it seems that symbolism means nothing without material benefit.'
Forbes
29-04-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Russian Troops Rolled Into Battle In A Yellow School Bus
A Russian bus on the front line in Donetsk. Chinese-made golf carts. Belarusian motorcycles. Lada compact cars, bukhanka vans and antique GAZ-69 trucks. Surplus electric scooters from Russia's thriving scooter rental industry. At least one locomotive. As Russia's stocks of armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) run low, Russian regiments and brigades in Ukraine are turning to civilian vehicles to transport troops into battle. The most recent addition to this arsenal of ex-civilian vehicles, many of them up-armored with anti-drone cages, might be the most comical: a school bus. On or just before Sunday, a Ukrainian drone operator spotted a yellow school bus parked near the front line in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, the locus of the fighting in the east. The bus may have broken down. It may have gotten stuck while trying to go off-road on the soft terrain that's typical of springtime Ukraine. At least one explosive first-person-view drone barreled in, striking the bus and lighting it ablaze. As a battlefield transport, a bus is less than ideal. 'Civilian vehicles are better than walking but will obviously not provide any protection or fire support' with vehicle-mounted guns, explained analyst Jakub Janovksy. 'So assaults with them instead of proper AFVs will be more costly and more likely to fail. They are also unlikely to be able to cross trenches, razor wire and other anti-infantry obstacles.' A Russian car with add-on anti-drone armor. But the Russians have little choice. Verified Russian losses in the 39 months since Russia widened its war on Ukraine include 17,000 vehicles and other pieces of heavy equipment. That's more vehicles than many armies have in their entire inventories—and more vehicles than Russia's sanctions-squeezed weapons industry can produce in three years. Annual production of new tanks and infantry fighting vehicles in Russia might total 1,100. The Kremlin has complemented its newly built vehicles with Cold War-vintage vehicles its technicians pulled from vast storage yards. But even these yards are depleted now. 'A lot of what remains is in a terrible state,' Janovksy said. Hence the golf carts, scooters and cars—and the bus. The Donetsk war bus wasn't the first-ever bus to go to war in recent years. Islamic State militants and their most fearsome opponents, the Kurdish Peshmerga, both modified civilian vehicles for combat use in the 2010s. The big difference between the ISIS and Pesh battle buses and Russia's own battle bus is that the former usually wore a lot of add-on armor to protect them from enemy fire. The Russians often add protection to their civilian assault vehicles, but there's no evidence they gave the bus in Donetsk this treatment. Maybe there was no time. Maybe the engineers who fit cars and trucks with improvised armor weren't ready to give a much bigger vehicle the same treatment. Abandoned, immobile and totally lacking protection from the drones that are everywhere all the time over the front line in Ukraine, the Russian bus was an easy target.
