The Peshmerga (Kurdish : پێشمەرگهPêşmerge, transl. 'Those Who Face Death') [25] comprise the standing military of Kurdistan Region, an autonomous political entity within the Republic of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Peshmerga and their security subsidiaries are solely responsible for the security of Kurdistan Region, chiefly due to the fact that the Iraqi Armed Forces are forbidden to enter Iraqi Kurdistan. [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] These subsidiaries include Asayish (intelligence agency/security forces), Parastin û Zanyarî (assisting intelligence agency), and Zêrevanî (the gendarmerie). The Peshmerga's history dates back to the 18th century, when they began as a strictly tribal pseudo-military border guard under the Ottoman Turks and the Safavid Iranians. By the 19th century, they had evolved into a disciplined and well-trained guerrilla force. [33]
Formally, the Peshmerga are under the command of the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs of the Kurdistan Regional Government. In practice, however, the Peshmerga's structure is largely divided and controlled separately by the two Iraqi Kurdish political parties: the Democratic Party of Kurdistan and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. Though unifying and integrating the Peshmerga has been on the Kurdistan Region's public agenda since 1992, the individual forces remain divided due to factionalism, which has proved to be a major stumbling block. [34]
Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Peshmerga played a key role in helping the United States on the mission to capture deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. [35] [36] In 2004, they captured Saudi-born Pakistani terrorist Hassan Ghul, who was operating for al-Qaeda in Iraq. Ghul was turned over to American intelligence officers shortly afterwards, and revealed the identity of several key al-Qaeda figures during his interrogation, which eventually led to the killing of Osama bin Laden in a covert American military operation in Pakistan in 2011. [37] [38] [39] One year later, in 2012, Ghul was assassinated by an American drone strike in northwestern Pakistan.
The word "Peshmerga" can be translated to "to stand in front of death", [40] [41] [42] and Valentine states it was first used by Qazi Muhammad in the short-lived Mahabad Republic (1946–47). [43] The word is understandable to Persian speakers. [44]
The Kurdish warrior tradition of rebellion has existed for thousands of years along with aspirations for independence, and early Kurdish warriors fought against the various Persian empires, the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire. [33] [45]
Historically the Peshmerga existed only as guerrilla organizations, but under the self-declared Republic of Mahabad (1946–1947), the Peshmerga led by Mustafa Barzani became the official army of the republic. [46] [47] After the fall of the republic and the execution of head of state Qazi Muhammad, Peshmerga forces reemerged as guerrilla organizations that would go on to fight the Iranian and Iraqi governments for the remainder of the century. [48]
In Iraq, most of these Peshmerga were led by Mustafa Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. [47] In 1975 the Peshmerga were defeated in the Second Iraqi–Kurdish War. Jalal Talabani, a leading member of the KDP, left the same year to revitalize the resistance and founded the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. This event created the baseline for the political discontent between the KDP and PUK that to this day divides Peshmerga forces and much of Kurdish society in Kurdistan. [49] [50]
After Mustafa Barzani's death in 1979, his son Masoud Barzani took his position. [47] As tension increased between KDP and PUK, most Peshmerga fought to keep a region under their own party's control while also fighting off Iraqi Army incursions. Following the First Persian Gulf War, Iraqi Kurdistan saw the Kurdish Civil War between the two major parties, the KDP and the PUK, and Peshmerga forces were used to fight each other. [51] The civil war officially ended in September 1998 when Barzani and Talabani signed the Washington Agreement establishing a formal peace treaty. [52] In the agreement, the parties agreed to share revenue and power, deny the use of northern Iraq to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and not allow Iraqi troops into the Kurdish regions. By then, around 5,000 had been killed on both sides, and many more had been evicted for being on the wrong side. [53] In the years after, tension remained high, but both parties moved towards each other, and in 2003 they both took part in the overthrowing of the Baathist regime as part of the Iraq War. Unlike other militia forces, the Peshmerga were never prohibited by Iraqi law. [54]
In 2014, the Peshmerga withdrew from the Nineveh Plains which was said by the locals as being a contributing factor of the quick Islamic State victory in the invasion, and the widespread massacre of Yazidis, who were rendered defenseless. [55]
The Peshmerga are mostly divided among forces loyal to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and those loyal to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), [56] while other, minor Kurdish parties such as the Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party also have their own small Peshmerga units. [57] The KDP and PUK do not disclose information about the composition of their forces with government or media. [56] Thus there is no reliable number of how many Peshmerga fighters exist. [56] Media outlets have speculated that there are between 150,000 and 200,000 Peshmerga, but this number is highly disputed. [58] [59] Peshmerga have divided Kurdistan Region into a KDP-governed "yellow" zone covering Dohuk Governorate and Erbil Governorate and a PUK-governed "green" zone covering Sulaymaniyah Governorate and Halabja Governorate. [60] [56] [34] Each zone has its own branch of Peshmerga with their own governing institutions that do not coordinate with the other branch. [34] [61]
As a result of the split nature of the Peshmerga forces, there is no central command center in charge of the entire force, and Peshmerga units instead follow separate military hierarchies depending on political allegiance. [62] Multiple unification and depoliticizing efforts of the Peshmerga have been made since 1992. But so far all deadlines have been missed, [34] reforms have been watered down, [56] and most of the Peshmerga are still under the influence of the KDP and the PUK, who also maintain their separate Peshmerga forces. Following the events of the Iraqi Civil War in 2014, the United States and several Europe nations pressured the PUK and KDP to set up mixed brigades of Peshmerga as a condition for aid and funding. The PUK and KDP united 12 to 14 brigades under the Regional Guard Brigades, which were then placed under the command of the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs. [56] However, officers continue to report to and take orders from their party leaders who also control the deployment of forces loyal to them and appoint front-line and sector commanders [34]
Both the KDP and the PUK rely heavily on irregulars in times of conflict to increase their ranks. [63] However, both maintain several professional military brigades. The following units have been identified within the Peshmerga force:
Force | Estimated size | Commander | Party affiliation |
---|---|---|---|
Regional Guard Brigades [56] [34] | 40,000–43,000 | Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs | Supposedly apolitical |
Hezekani Kosrat Rasul [34] | 2,000–3,000 | Kosrat Rasul Ali | PUK |
Anti-terror force [34] | 5,000 [64] | Lahur Shekh Jangi | PUK |
Presidential Peshmerga brigades [34] | unknown | Hero Ibrahim Ahmed | PUK |
70 Unit [34] [56] | 60,000 | Sheikh Jaafar Sheikh Mustafa | PUK. Supposedly becoming incorporated into MPA [65] |
Emergency Forces [34] | 3,000 [64] | unknown | PUK |
PUK Asayish (security) force | unknown | unknown | PUK |
Presidential Guard (Iraqi Kurdistan ) [34] | unknown | Nechirvan Barzani | W |
80 Unit [34] [56] | 70,000–90,000 | Najat Ali Salih | KDP. Supposedly becoming incorporated into MPA [65] |
Zerevani [34] | 51,000–120,000 active/250,000 reservists [66] [33] | Masoud Barzani | KDP |
Êzîdxan Protection Force [67] | 7,000 [68] –8,000 [69] | Haydar Shesho | Yazidi Democratic Party, Incorporated into Peshmerga Ministry [70] |
Nineveh Plain Guard Forces or "Christian Peshmerga" [71] | 1,500 | unknown | Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council |
KDP Asayish (security) force | unknown | unknown | KDP |
Due to limited funding and the vast size of the Peshmerga forces, the KRG has long planned to downsize its forces from large numbers of low-quality forces to a smaller but much more effective and well-trained force. [72] Consequently, in 2009, the KRG and Baghdad engaged in discussions about incorporating parts of the Peshmerga forces into the Iraqi Army in what would be the 15th and 16th Iraqi Army divisions. [73] [74] However, after increasing tension between Erbil and Baghdad regarding the disputed areas, the transfer was largely put on hold. Some Peshmerga were already transferred but reportedly deserted again, and there are allegations that former Peshmerga forces remained loyal to the KRG rather than their Iraqi chain of command; regardless, thousands of members of the 80 Unit of KDP and the 70 Unit of PUK are based in Baghdad, and they have good cooperation with other Iraqi forces in Baghdad. [75] [76] [77]
The Peshmerga forces are secular with a Muslim majority and Assyrian and Yazidi units. [78] [79]
Peshmerga forces largely rely on old arms captured from battles. The Peshmerga captured stockpiles of weapons during the 1991 Iraqi uprisings. [80] Several stockpiles of weapons were captured from the old Iraqi Army during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, in which Peshmerga forces were active. Following the retreat of the new Iraqi Army during the June 2014 Islamic State offensive, Peshmerga forces reportedly again managed to get hold of weapons left behind by the Army. [81] Since August 2014, Peshmerga forces have also captured weapons from the Islamic State. [82] In 2015, for the first time, Peshmerga soldiers received urban warfare and military intelligence training from foreign trainers, the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. [83]
The Peshmerga arsenal is limited and confined by restrictions because the Kurdish Region has to purchase arms through the Iraqi government. Due to disputes between the KRG and the Iraqi government, arms flows from Baghdad to Kurdistan Region have been almost nonexistent, as Baghdad fears Kurdish aspirations for independence. [84] [85] [56] After the Islamic State offensive of August 2014, multiple governments armed the Peshmerga with some light equipment such as light arms, night goggles, and ammunition. [86] [87] However, Kurdish officials and Peshmerga stressed that they were not receiving enough. They also stress that Baghdad was blocking all arms from reaching the KRG, emphasizing the need for weapons to be sent directly to the KRG and not through Baghdad. [88] [89] Despite this, the United States has maintained that the government of Iraq is responsible for the security of Iraqi Kurdistan and that Baghdad must approve all military aid. [56]
The Peshmerga lack a proper medical corps and communication units. [56] This became apparent during the Islamic State offensive in 2014 where the Peshmerga found itself lacking ambulances and frontline field hospitals, forcing wounded fighters to walk back to safety. [56] There is also a lack of communication tools, as Peshmerga commanders are forced to use civilian cellphones to communicate with each other. [56] Under the guidance of the US-led coalition the Peshmerga has started to standardize its weapons systems, replacing Soviet-era weapons with NATO firearms. [56]
Model | image | Caliber | Origin |
---|---|---|---|
M249 | 5.56×45mm NATO | United States [96] | |
M240 | 7.62×51mm NATO | United States [97] | |
MG 3 | 7.62×51mm NATO | Germany [98] | |
M2 Browning | .50 BMG | United States [99] |
Model | image | Type | Origin |
---|---|---|---|
MILAN | Wire-guided missile | France West Germany [105] [106] [107] [108] | |
HJ-8 | Wire-guided missile | China [105] [109] | |
BGM-71 TOW | Wire-guided missile | United States [110] | |
9M113 Konkurs | Wire-guided missile | Soviet Union [105] | |
9M133 Kornet | Laser beam-riding missile | Russia [105] |
Model | image | Type | Origin | In Service |
---|---|---|---|---|
T-72 | Soviet Union | Main battle tank | <63 [111] | |
T-55 | Soviet Union | Main battle tank | 322 [112] | |
T-62 | Soviet Union | Main battle tank | 186 [113] |
Model | image | Type | Origin | In Service |
---|---|---|---|---|
D-30 | Soviet Union | Howitzer | 200 [114] [115] | |
D-20 | Soviet Union | Howitzer | 24 [114] | |
M30 | Soviet Union | Howitzer | 80 [114] | |
2S1 Gvozdika | Soviet Union | Self-propelled artillery | 18 [114] [116] | |
M119 | United States | Howitzer | 36-54 [117] [118] | |
M102 howitzer | United States | Howitzer | 54-84 [114] | |
BM-21 Grad | Soviet Union | Multiple rocket launcher | 24 [114] | |
Type 63 | China | Multiple rocket launcher | 40 [114] |
The Peshmerga forces are plagued by frequent allegations of corruption, partisanship, nepotism, and fraud. [119] [120] [121] [122] A common result of corruption in the Peshmerga are "ghost employees" which are employees on paper who either do not exist or do not show up for work but receive a salary. Those setting up such a scam split the salary of these employees. [56]
In addition the KDP and PUK have used the Peshmerga to exert or attempt to exert a monopoly on the use of force within their zones. [56] In 2011 KDP Peshmerga fired on anti-government protesters in Sulaymaniyah, and the PUK later used its own security forces to break up these protests, [34] leading to criticism from all of the opposition parties in the parliament. In 2014 the KDP used its Peshmerga to stop ministers from the Gorran Movement to enter Erbil and attend parliament. [56]
Outside of Kurdistan Region the Peshmerga has been criticized for using force to exert control of local Arab, Yazidi and Assyrian communities, particularly after taking control of areas officially outside of Kurdistan Region during the Iraqi Civil War. [123]
Women have played a significant role in the Peshmerga since its foundation. The Kurdish Zand tribe was known for allowing women in military roles. [33] During the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict the majority of women served within the Peshmerga in supporting roles such as building camps, taking care of the wounded, and carrying munitions and messages. [63] Several women brigades served on the front lines. Margaret George Malik [124] was an iconic [125] Assyrian guerilla fighter who was given a leading position in important battles such as the battle of Zawita Valley. [126] The PUK started recruiting women during the Kurdish Civil War. Women were given a 45-day basic training that included parade drills and basic marksmanship with various rifles, mortars, and RPGs. [33]
In the months leading up to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the United States launched Operation Viking Hammer which dealt a huge blow to Islamic terrorist groups in Iraqi Kurdistan and uncovered a chemical weapons facility. [127] [128] [129] [130] [131] The PUK later confirmed that female Kurdish fighters had participated in the operation. [63]
The modern Peshmerga is almost entirely made up of men, while having at least 600 women in their ranks. [132] In the KDP, these Peshmerga women have been refused access to the frontline and are mostly used in logistics and management positions, [133] but PUK Peshmerga women are deployed in the front lines and are actively engaged in combat. [134] [135] [33]
Kurdistan Region is an autonomous administrative entity within the Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurdish-majority divisions of Arab-majority Iraq: the Erbil Governorate, the Sulaymaniyah Governorate, the Duhok Governorate, and Halabja Governorate. The KRI is bordered by Iran to the east, by Turkey to the north, and by Syria to the west. It does not govern all of Iraqi Kurdistan, and lays claim to the disputed territories of northern Iraq; these territories have a predominantly non-Arab population and were subject to the Ba'athist Arabization campaigns throughout the late 20th century. Though the KRI's autonomy was realized in 1992, one year after Iraq's defeat in the Gulf War, these northern territories remain contested between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Government of Iraq to the present day. In light of the dispute, the KRI's constitution declares the city of Kirkuk as the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. However, the KRI does not control Kirkuk, and the Kurdistan Region Parliament is based in Erbil. In 2014, when the Syria-based Islamic State began their Northern Iraq offensive and invaded the country, the Iraqi Armed Forces retreated from most of the disputed territories. The KRI's Peshmerga then entered and took control of them for the duration of the War in Iraq (2013–2017). In October 2017, following the defeat of the Islamic State, the Iraqi Armed Forces attacked the Peshmerga and reasserted control over the disputed territories.
Masoud Barzani is a Kurdish politician who has been leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979, and was President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq from 2005 to 2017.
The Iraqi Kurdish Civil War was a civil war that took place between rival Kurdish factions in Iraqi Kurdistan during the mid-1990s, mostly between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Over the course of the conflict, Kurdish factions from Iran and Turkey, as well as Iranian, Iraqi and Turkish forces, were drawn into the fighting, with additional involvement from American forces. Between 35,000 and 40,000 fighters and civilians were killed.
Kosrat Rasul Ali is a Kurdish politician and the leader of the Supreme Political Council of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), veteran Peshmerga military leader, former Prime Minister, and former Vice President of the Kurdistan Region.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party, usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the largest party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. The party states that it combines "democratic values and social justice to form a system whereby everyone in Kurdistan can live on an equal basis with great emphasis given to rights of individuals and freedom of expression."
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The Iraqi–Kurdish conflict consists of a series of wars and rebellions by the Kurds against the central authority of Iraq during the 20th century, which began shortly after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I and lasting until the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Some put the marking point of the conflict beginning to the attempt by Mahmud Barzanji to establish an independent Kingdom of Kurdistan, while others relate to the conflict as only the post-1961 insurrection by the Barzanis. The conflict lasted until the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, though tensions between the Kurdish autonomy and the central Iraqi government have continued.
An independence referendum for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was held on 25 September 2017, with preliminary results showing approximately 92.73 percent of votes cast in favour of independence. Despite reporting that the independence referendum would be non-binding, the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) characterised it as binding, although they claimed that an affirmative result would trigger the start of state building and negotiations with Iraq rather than an immediate declaration of independence of Kurdistan. The referendum's legality was rejected by the federal government of Iraq.
The Peshmerga have historically been Kurdish guerrilla forces combating the ruling power in the region of what is now Iraqi Kurdistan. Under Mahmud Barzanji, the Peshmerga fought against the British Empire after World War I. They also spearheaded revolts against the Iraqi government in 1931–1932 and against Iran in 1946–1947. Under the leadership of Mustafa Barzani, Peshmerga forces fought the Iraqi government in the First and Second Iraqi–Kurdish Wars of the 1960s and 1970s, and supported Iran in the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s. The Peshmerga became divided between forces loyal to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and those loyal to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a split that led to the Iraqi Kurdish Civil War of 1995–1998. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Peshmerga became the official military forces of the Kurdistan Region, ruled by a KDP-PUK coalition. The Peshmerga have played an important role in re-taking territory occupied by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
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The November Sinjar offensive was a combination of operations of Kurdish Peshmerga, PKK, and Yezidi Kurd militias in November 2015, to recapture the city of Sinjar from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. It resulted in a decisive victory for the Kurdish forces, who expelled the ISIL militants from Sinjar and regained control of Highway 47, which until then had served as the major supply route between the ISIL strongholds of Raqqa and Mosul.
Parliamentary elections took place in Kurdistan Region on 30 September 2018 to elect Parliament. The election came a year after a failed bid for independence and left the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) with 45 seats, that positioning it to lead the next regional government. Announcement of the results was delayed for three weeks. The KDP's historic rival and junior coalition partner in government, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), was in second place with 21 seats. The results suggest that Masoud Barzani’s KDP will take a dominant position in Kurdish politics.
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