Peshmerga

The Peshmerga (Kurdish: those who face death) are the military forces of the autonomous region Iraqi Kurdistan, which is unofficially divided between units loyal to the two major parties in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Democratic Party of Kurdistan and The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, though both parties are loyal to the central government of Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurdish forces have been fighting for independence for over a century, first from the British and Turks in the early 20th century, and later against the governments of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey, however, the term peshmerga was not coined until the mid-20th century.

The Kurds briefly established the "Republic of Mahabad" under Mustafa Barzani in Western Iran from 1946-1947, but were defeated Iranian forces and British air powers. Barzani, however, continued to lead the Kurdish resistance, which was defeated in a war with Iraq in 1975. Disagreements between Barzani and rival Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani led to the division between the DPK and PUK. During the aftermath of the 1988 Iran-Iraq War, the Kurds again rose up, only to be brutally suppressed by Saddam Hussein's Baath Party using air strikes and chemical weapons. This led the establishment of a "no-fly zone" over Iraqi Kurdistan by US-led NATO forces. After the Gulf War in 1991, tensions between Talabani and Mustafa Barzani's son, Masoud, broke out in to a civil war which lasted until 1998.

While tensions remained high, the Kurds unified against the Baath regime in the 2003 Iraq War, providing between 80,000 and 250,000 troops and 2000 armored vehicles, making them the second largest military force in Iraq after the US. After the fall of Saddam's regime, the Kurds enjoyed practically de-facto independence, and were the most economically prosperous group in Iraq, with numerous construction projects in Kurdish cities spurred on by the economic growth.

In 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS made advances into Kurdish territory, however, after two years of fierce fighting, the Peshmerga, supported by US and coalition air support, have succeeded in halting the ISIS advance are forcing them into retreat.