From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq's Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are trying to reverse gains by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) who have overrun much of the country's north. The group is in control of […]
By John Lee. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have reportedly driven Islamic State (IS) fighters from the strategic border town of Rabia on Tuesday. According to a report from Reuters, the victory was achieved with help from Kurds from the Syrian side of the frontier, a new sign of cross-border cooperation. Members of the influential Sunni Shammar […]
From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. North of the ISIL stronghold of Mosul in Northern Iraq is a town called Zumar. Kurdish forces have been trying to drive fighters out for weeks but ISIL is putting up a tough […]
By Patrick M Schmidt. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has welcomed forty German military advisors who will begin training Peshmerga security forces on weapons newly received from Germany. The advisors have previous experience training foreign militaries. The German military assistance package is valued at $92 million and is aimed to assist in their fight against […]
By John Lee. As Kurdish Peshmerga forces have continued their advance, capturing Batana mountain near Zumar, along with recent gains in Makhmur, they have announced ISIL is following a "scorched earth" policy. An official from Iraq's North Oil Company recently confirmed that after ISIL retreated from the Ain Zalah oil field, they set fire to […]
By Patrick Schmidt. Kurdistan Regional President Massoud Barzani has announced coming reforms for the Kurdish security forces, most famous for the Peshmerga. The reforms would bring all units under a single unified command. In the past, the Minister of the Peshmerga did not have control over all troops, and the force was in some cases […]
By John Lee. The BBC's Jim Muir has reported from the front lines at Bakarta in the Kurdish region of Iraq, where Kurdish Peshmerga troops have retaken villages lost to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Interestingly, Muir reports from a hill on the front lines that the Kurds seized from ISIL, […]
From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq have regained control of several towns east of Mosul from the Islamic State group. The Peshmerga, backed by US air strikes, are fighting to retake the Mosul Dam, […]
By John Lee. Following on from France's move to rapidly supply Kurdish Peshmerga led forces with arms and equipment, Germany's Federal Ministry of Defence has pledged "non lethal aid" to the Iraqi army. Typically, non-lethal aid is sent when a matter is politically sensitive, or if a government has reservations about supplying one side in […]
By Patrick Schmidt. Defence secretary Chuck Hagel has announced that additional military advisors are being deployed to Iraq. On Tuesday, an additional 130 American military advisers arrived in the country. The staff are tasked with accessing the ongoing humanitarian crisis taking place in the north of the country. This announcement comes almost a week after […]
By John Lee. As Barack Obama pledges to send more security assistance, including arms, advisers and possibly more air strikes to the KRG, The Wall Street Journal has reported renewed confidence displayed by KRG aligned forces. The famed Kurdish Peshmerga, no strangers to combat having once resisted Saddam's forces, have reportedly re-taken the villages of Gwair (north […]
By Patrick M Schmidt. An offensive launched by Kurdish security forces over the weekend has continued into the middle of the week. Their forces have mainly focused on the city of Mosul that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had previously declared as the capitol of their “caliphate.” Kurdish forces have suffered […]
