peshmerga Archives

6 Kurdistan Regional Government soldiers killed in Iranian attack on northern Iraq

Seth Frantzman | March 24, 2026

Six Peshmerga fighters were killed, and more than 20 were wounded in a missile strike north of Erbil on March 24, marking the deadliest attack on the Kurdistan Region since late February. The strike is part of a broader wave of drone and missile attacks by Iran and Iranian-backed militias targeting northern Iraq, US facilities, and Kurdish forces. In addition, rockets were fired toward Syria on March 23, and at least 15 members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces were killed in a likely US airstrike in Iraq’s Anbar province.

Kurdish and Iraqi forces, militias clash in northern Iraq

Caleb Weiss | October 26, 2017

Today’s clashes in Ninewa and Erbil are just the latest in a recent series between Iraqi forces, Iranian-backed Shia militias, and Kurdish Peshmerga forces over disputed areas in northern Iraq.

Iraqi forces recapture contentious Kirkuk in overnight offensive

Bill Roggio & Alexandra Gutowski | October 16, 2017

The Iraqi government quickly capitalized on its victory against the Islamic State in the adjacent city of Hawija and turned its energy on the secessionist Kurds in Kirkuk. The rapid offensive exposes deep fault lines in the anti-Islamic State coalition and within Kurdish politics.

Tensions mount as Iraqi militias boost numbers in contested areas while Kurds hold referendum

Amir Toumaj & Caleb Weiss | September 27, 2017

As tensions mount between the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, several Iranian-backed group have deployed more troops to contested areas near Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmatu. As both sides remain steadfast in their claims to the oil rich province, tensions continue to mount and the risk of military escalation rises.

Islamic State launches defensive suicide bombings around Mosul

Thomas Joscelyn | October 17, 2016

The Islamic State claims to have carried out 12 suicide bombings south and east of Mosul during the first hours of the battle to retake the city. However, the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) claims that the suicide attackers were neutralized. The so-called caliphate has increasingly relied on its “martyrs” as it has lost ground in the past.

Islamic State claims more than 700 suicide attacks since beginning of the year

Thomas Joscelyn | September 6, 2016

The Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency has claimed 729 “martyrdom operations” in Iraq, Syria and Libya since the beginning of the year. The figures for August indicate that 81 suicide attacks were carried out in these three countries. If the statistics are accurate, then the self-declared “caliphate” is carrying out suicide bombings at a historically high rate.