Peshmerga

As US considers cutting funds from Kurdish forces, concerns rise over stability in Middle East

The Peshmerga have played a key role over the years fighting ISIS and securing the autonomous Kurdistan Region. However, efforts to reform them have not proceeded as planned.

AUGUST 29, 2026|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN

A group of young male and female Peshmergas belonging to the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), near one of their bases in the mountains of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, 35 miles from the Iranian border, on January 17, 2026.

Ghazal Molan, the youngest female Peshmerga opposed to the Islamic Republic, had joined Kurdish armed opposition forces across the border at the age of 18 and died on Tuesday evening.

Ghazal, youngest female Kurdish Peshmerga, dies after IRGC strike and medical neglect

Ghazal Molan, 19, died after being wounded in an IRGC drone strike, amid claims she was denied urgent hospital care before being laid to rest in Sulaymaniyah.

APRIL 19, 2026|ByOMID HABIBINIA/THE MEDIA LINE

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio walks on the day of classified briefings for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on the situation in Iran, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, March 3, 2026.

Rubio holds call with Iraqi Kurdish leader, State Department says

The war in Iran has raised oil prices and shaken global markets.

MARCH 27, 2026|ByREUTERS

SMOKE RISES from the site of a drone crash on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq, March 12, 2026.

Iran-backed Iraqi militias attack Kurdistan over 450 times since beginning of war

“The attacks, carried out by Iran and its aligned Iraqi militia groups, have killed at least 14 people and wounded 85 others," Erbil-based Rudaw Media Network noted.

MARCH 26, 2026|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN

Shock in Kurdistan region of Iraq as Kirkuk falls to Iraqi forces

As US expresses concern, Iraqi forces launch major attack alongside Iranian-backed militias to take city run by Kurdistan Regional Government.

OCTOBER 17, 2017BySETH J. FRANTZMAN