Greater Middle East
Syria: Nusra Front cleanses Kurds
Up to 20,000 refugees have crossed from Syria into Iraqi Kurdistan, fleeing fighting between Kurdish militias and Salafist factions led by the Nusra Front.
Tag: Kurdistan
Iraq
Iraq: sectarian war escalating fast
Sectarian violence has killed at least 200 in Iraq since the start of Ramadan, and Hezbollah has launched an Iraqi wing to fight al-Qaeda’s networks in the country.
Greater Middle East
Syria: sectarian, ethnic fighting spreads
A rocket strike near an important Shi’ite shrine in Damascus sparked protests throughout the Shia world, while Kurdish militias fight jihadist forces in northern Syria.
Greater Middle East
Turkey: police fire on Kurdish protesters
Turkish security forces killed one and wounded nine as Kurdish villagers armed with improvised petrol bombs attacked a construction site of the gendarmerie in Diyarbakir.
Greater Middle East
Kurdish militia falls out with Free Syria Army
An alliance between the Free Syrian Army and the People’s Protection Committees (YPG), the country’s main Kurdish militia, broke down amid internecine clashes in Aleppo.
Iraq
Iraq 10 years later: ‘cycle of human rights abuses’
Ten years after the US invasion, Iraq is enmeshed in a cycle of human rights abuses, including attacks on civilians, torture and unfair trials, Amnesty International charges.
Iraq
Exxon begins explorations in Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government announced that ExxonMobil has begun exploring for oil in the region—in a deal rejected by the Baghdad central government as illegal.
Greater Middle East
Kurdish wild card in Syria conflict
Kurdish militias in Syria—some linked to the PKK—are battling jihadist rebels, but it is uncertain if they necessarily back the Damascus regime.
Greater Middle East
‘Dark forces’ in assassination of Kurdish leaders
Kurdish activists charge that “dark forces” bent on sabotaging Turkey’s peace talks with the PKK were behind the armed attack that left three leaders dead in Paris.
Iraq
Iraq: army, Peshmerga in stand-off at Kirkuk
An ongoing stand-off between an elite force of Iraq's national army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces around the contested northern city of Kirkuk led to skirmishes that left two dead.
Iraq
Iraq exports Islamist militants to Syria?
Arabic-language news services report that 15 accused al-Qaeda members who recently escaped from a prison in Tikrit, Iraq, are now leading insurgent groups in Syria.
Iraq
Turkish special forces intervene in Iraq
The Turkish military carried out a ground operation against PKK guerillas in northern Iraq, followed by airstrikes in the Kandil Mountains along the border.