The Kurdish News

[TomSea]

Iraq
Reporter recounts being 5 meters away from death
By Hunar Ahmed 12 hours ago

A Rudaw team of reporters and cameramen come dangerously close to the fight for Mosul. Photo: Rudaw TV
This is a personal narrative of Rudaw war reporter Hunar Ahmed, whose team was covering the Mosul offensive near the southern town of Hamam al-Alil on April 23, 2017. The Rudaw team was safe after the close call.

My team set out at dawn with two other Rudaw teams toward Mosul. Upon arrival on the right bank of the city, we parted ways with the other two teams. We headed to the place where the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism forces were fighting ISIS.

Before we got there, I contacted Brigadier Maan Saad, one of the Iraqi commanders, who told me his forces were not going to make any advances. I then contacted the other Rudaw teams, telling them we were heading back to the place where the Iraqi Federal Police were assigned

We arrived at Arej area where the Federal Police’s general command is based, waiting there for their media chief to take us to the frontlines on the right bank of Mosul. We waited longer than normal for him to show up — compared to our experiences in the past.

Continued: http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/250420172

[TomSea]

Coalition confirms ISIS used chemical weapons in Mosul
By Rudaw 21/4/2017

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The extremist group ISIS has used chemical weapons in the Iraqi city of Mosul, the spokesperson of the US-led global coalition against ISIS confirmed to Rudaw on Friday.
 
Colonel John Dorrian referred to the chemical attack unprompted as he was commenting on the progress of the Iraqi forces, helped by the coalition, in western Mosul where the operation seems to have slowed down as the advancing Iraqi forces make their way into the densely-populated and narrow streets of the Old City.
 
“The Iraqi Security Forces know that it is important to finish ISIS in the west side of Mosul, because they have created tremendous human suffering in the urban areas they have controlled. They have used human shields, they have used chemical weapons,” Dorrian told Rudaw TV.

Continued: http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/210420171

[TomSea]

Turkey threatens further strikes on US-allied Syrian Kurds
 Associated Press | Published — Sunday 30 April 2017

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country may take further military action against Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria, saying US support for such groups “must come to an end.”
He said he would discuss the issue at a meeting with US President Donald Trump next month.

Continued: http://www.arabnews.com/node/1092511/world

Barzani is the Kurdish President of that region. So, what this article below is saying is Barzani is the only Kurd party not opposing Turkey.

Everyone but Barzani’s KDP opposes Turkey: PUK’s Adel Murad
Posted on April 30, 2017 by Editorial Staff in Politics, Politics

SULAIMANI, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— PUK official Adel Murad criticized Turkey’s attacks on Iraq’s Sinjar (Shingal) and Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) carried out in collaboration with the KDP, and said “The KDP sides with Turkey at a time when the rest of the world opposes it.”

Continued: http://ekurd.net/everyone-barzani-opposes-turkey-2017-04-30

Our troops are in the area, hoping to lend some security to the Kurds.

[TomSea]

Is Turkey’s War on Syrian Kurds Becoming a War on the United States?
President Erdogan seems to believe he can bully Trump into abandoning his allies in the fight against ISIS.
By Juan ColeTwitter
April 28, 2017

A US military commander walks with a commander from the YPG as they inspect the damage at YPG headquarters after it was hit by Turkish airstrikes near Malikiya, Syria, April 25, 2017. (Reuters / Rodi Said)

he Trump administration was unusually subdued this week after the Turkish air force launched a bombing campaign against facilities of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria. The State Department said it “asked” Turkey to stop killing US allies in the fight against ISIL (ISIS, or the Islamic State). The Pentagon complained that Turkey not only hit its allies but failed to coordinate with the US Air Force, which is flying in the area. In essence, Turkey acted as a hostile power against the US war effort. In the aftermath, a fierce firefight has broken out at the Syrian-Turkish border between YPG forces and Turkish army units operating in northern Syria.

The YPG personnel are close allies of the United States in the fight against ISIL in northeast Syria. On coming to power, President Trump increased the number of US troops embedded among them to some 500. Just this week he gave the Defense Department under Jim Mattis the authority to make further determinations about needed troop levels in Syria and Iraq.

...

Now Turkey is more or less at war with the United States in northern Syria, inasmuch as its bombing of the YPG could easily hit US Special Forces embedded with them. Likewise, the possibility of an aerial dogfight between the US Air Force and its Turkish counterpart cannot be ruled out. The United States cannot hope to retain credibility as a battlefield ally of YPG fighters risking all to take on ISIL if it cannot even protect them from a NATO member like Turkey. Erdogan appears to believe that he can bully Trump into abandoning the Syrian Kurds as allies. It remains to be seen if he has calculated correctly.


https://www.thenation.com/article/is-turkeys-war-on-syrian-kurds-becoming-a-war-on-the-united-states/

Good article, even if the Nation is notoriously, left-wing, they are not the irreverent leftist press; the Nation has been around forever, one of those old publications like Harper's or the Atlantic.

It doesn't look like Turkey will budge on this situation.

[TomSea]

Really hate seeing this about the Kurd martyrs from that Turkish bombing about a week ago.  Note, this has a very leftist slant in calling the US and occupier, back when it happened, of Indochina.  This is real communist preaching below, mentioning Che Guevara? PKK of the Kurds are called Communists. So, this makes this a bit controversial.

0/04/2017 - 08:39 0 0
Rojava: Martyrs don't die
Marcel Cartier

To live like the fallen will be the revenge of humanity against fascist aggression

Death is of course a major, indeed fundamental, part of war. No revolutionary struggle worthy of the name can be fought, and certainly not won, without a tremendous degree of sacrifice in which humanity’s most precious sons and daughters often live for what only seems like a flash. The young are the ones to not only make revolution, but to carry the burden of often not living to see it made. Their moment in history in terms of years spent on the earth seems even more insignificant than those who live ‘full lives’ of 80 or 90 years. Yet, their often exceptionally brief time on this planet -- because of their ultimate sacrifice -- manifests in deaths that, to echo what Mao Zedong once said, are heavier that Mount Thai in contrast to the reactionaries whose deaths are lighter than feathers. Kurdish culture is one in which mountains have a key significance, so the idea of the Chinese revolutionary conveyed more than half a century ago is one that I’m certain has some degree of relevance for a modern revolutionary struggle half way across the world. It is often said, after all, that Kurds have no friends except these mountains.

The number of young warriors who are taken from this world at an appallingly young age in conflict is almost impossible to conceive of in the contexts of the relative comfort of western society today. The struggles of the 20th century bare out just how much blood had to be spilled onto the battlefields of Asian, Africa and Latin America in struggles that were principally about national liberation, not to mention the second world war in which up to 27 million Soviets gave their lives to smash fascism. 1.5 million perished in Algeria to boot out the supposedly democratic French state. Millions more died in Indochina to kick out the same initial colonizer, and later the United States. Struggles in Africa against the Portuguese, Spanish, British and French claimed millions more. We know all too well the optimistic and romantic revolutionary sentiments associated with such monumental suffering. Che Guevara once said it didn’t matter if he fell anywhere in the world as long as another comrade came to pick up his gun. It was an idea I was to hear repeated throughout my time in Rojava.

Continued: http://kurdishquestion.com/article/3914-rojava-martyrs-don-039-t-die

[TomSea]

See previous post:

28/04/2017 - 14:22 0 1
Syrian Christian group condemns Turkish airstrikes on Rojava
Kurdish Question


The Syriac Military Council (MSF), a group within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has condemned the Turkish airstrikes that killed 18 Kurdish fighters on 25 April.

In a statement the group accused Turkey of continuing the "genocidal and anti-democratic campaigns of the Ottoman Empire."

Continued: http://kurdishquestion.com/article/3912-syrian-christian-group-condemns-turkish-airstrikes-on-rojava

[TomSea]

You know backroom talks happen between the US and Turkey, notice, the Kurdish-Turkish spat was not in the headlines this past week.

Syrian Kurds plan enclave stretching to Mediterranean: Report

Head of Kurdish federalism project reported as saying Kurd will seek US support for plan in return for taking Raqqa from IS

Kurdish leaders are to press for US support to extend their territory across Syria to the Mediterranean sea to create a trade route and bolster Kurdish enclaves in the north in an expansion plan that will infuriate their opponents in neighbouring Turkey.

A senior Kurd official told the Observer newspaper that Syrian Kurds wanted more territory in the north in return for helping the US retake Raqqa from the Islamic State group and laid claim to a "legal right" to a trade corridor to the Mediterranean.

Senior officials from the self-declared autonomous "democratic federation of north Syria" said its Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), which contain Kurd, Arab and Assyrian Christian militia, were preparing to occupy Raqqa after its liberation and then move further southeast towards Deir Ezzor.

Continued: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syrias-kurds-plan-enclave-stretching-mediterranean-report-865706939

[TomSea]

Joshua Landis is a faculty member at Oklahoma University and has a blog for surely, the most enlightened and intellectual types. Since his latest entry deals with the Kurds, I am posting here.  This article, like many he posts is not by him. I guess he would be an expert, I wish he'd relay his thoughts more on the whole situation rather than just post stories from over there. I'm not even sure what the gist of this article is. College reading I suppose.  A good website to look around on and maybe one can find an article, speaking for myself only, that one can make some sense out of, that is not too complex.

The End of the PKK in Sinjar? How the Hashd al-Sha’bi Can Help Resolve the Yazidi Genocide
Posted by Matthew Barber on Tuesday, May 30th, 2017

This article was published May 30, 2017 by NRT, a media service in Iraqi Kurdistan. The original article is available here. Photos and Images have been added to this re-post that were not present in the original.

by Matthew Barber

Sinjar is at a pivotal moment of transition and the next phase of its future will likely be determined by what happens over the next few weeks. This environment of change offers the US, UN, and EU a significant opportunity to help resolve the political crisis in Sinjar, and some specific recommendations for action will be detailed in this article.

Background on the Yazidi Hashd

Observers who have followed events in Sinjar over the past few years have probably seen the KDP-PKK rift as the salient competition in the area. This dynamic is now complicated by the presence of a third major actor, the Hashd al-Sha’bi and their quickly growing local Yazidi battalions.

The Hashd al-Sha’bi (or Popular Mobilization Units—PMU) are mostly known as a set of Shi’i militias, but the Hashd Body (or PMU Committee – هيئة الحشد), the institutional entity under which the Hashd al-Sha’bi are administrated, also serves as an umbrella for affiliated forces among many other Iraqi communities, including Christians, Turkmen, Sunni Arabs, and Yazidis.

Continued: http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/end-pkk-sinjar-hashd-al-shabi-can-help-resolve-yazidi-genocide/

[TomSea]

US-backed Syrian coalition takes Raqqa district from Islamic State

Coalition of Kurdish and Arab groups take Qadisia, in west of Raqqa, after three days of intense fighting

Members of Syrian Democratic Forces, alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, advance farther into Islamic State group's Syrian bastion earlier this month (AFP/file photo)

A US-backed Syrian coalition of Kurdish and Arab groups advanced against Islamic State (IS) in the militants' Syrian capital of Raqqa on Sunday, taking the al-Qadisia district, they said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began its assault on Raqqa earlier this month after a lengthy campaign to isolate IS inside the city.

It took Qadisia, located in the west of Raqqa, after three days of intense fighting, it said in a statement on one of its official social media feeds.

Continued: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-backed-syrian-coalition-takes-raqqa-district-islamic-state-1303561330

[TomSea]

Fighting on the Kurds side, YPG.

Quote:

List of International Volunteers killed in action in Rojava-Democratic Federation of Northern Syria
1. Ashley Johnston 23 Feb 2015 AUS
2. Kosta Scurfield 2 Mar 2015 UK/GR
3. Ivana Hoffman 7 March 2015 GER
4. Mihemed Kerim 5 May 2015 IRAN
5. Keith Broomfield 3 Jun 2015 USA
6. Arnavut Karker. 26 June 2015 AL
7. Reece Harding 27 June 2015 AUS
8. Kevin Jochim 6 Jul 2015. GER
9. John Gallagher 4 Nov 2015 CAN
10. Gunter Hellstern 23 Feb 2016 GER
11. Mario Nunes 3 May 2016 POR
12. Jamie Bright 25 May 2016 AUS
13. Levi Jonathan Shirley 14 July 2016 USA
14. Dean Carl Evans 21 July 2016 UK
15. Martin Gruden 27 July 2016 SLO
16. Firaz Kardo 3 August 2016 SWE/EGYPT
17. Jordan MacTaggart 3 August 2016 USA
18. William Savage 10 Aug 2016 USA
19. Michael Israel 24 Nov 2016 USA
20. Anton Leschek 24 Nov 2016 GER.
21. Ryan Lock 21 Dec 2016 UK
22. Nazzareno Tassone 21 Dec 2016 CAN
23. Paolo Todd 15 January 2017 USA
24. Albert A Harrington 25 January 2017 USA
25. Merdali Süleymanov 23 April 2017 KAZ
26. Robert Grodt 5 July 2017 USA
27. Nicolas A Warden 5 July 2017 USA
28. Luke Rutter 5 July 2017 UK



Read More At: http://kurdishquestion.com/article/3964-three-ypg-internationalist-volunteers-killed-in-raqqa-battle-against-islamic-state

Per their "Kurdish Revolutionary Names", the 3 above are Grodt, Warden and Rutter. Maybe they were caught in the same ambush.

God Bless Them All. More of men than I will ever be and fighting truly, an evil that can be matched by such as the Nazis, imo.

[TomSea]

Syrian rebels killed in Kurdish clashes
Fifteen dead in hit-and-run clashes with US-backed fighters in the country's north, says monitoring group.

More than a dozen Syrian rebel fighters have been killed in hit-and-run clashes in a Kurdish-controlled area of northeastern Syria near the border with Turkey, a monitoring group has said.

The Turkish-backed fighters were locked in a second day of fighting on Tuesday with units from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed Syrian coalition of Kurdish and Arab groups, around the village of Ain Daqna.

"Since Monday, 15 fighters from Syrian rebel factions were killed in the clashes and four SDF fighters were wounded, including one in critical condition," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said on Tuesday.

Ain Daqna, in Aleppo province, has been held by the US-backed SDF since February.

Continued: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/07/syrian-rebels-killed-kurdish-clashes-170718105951987.html

[TomSea]

Turkey and the Kurds are on the brink of war — and the Pentagon is right in the middle of it
    Daniel Brown
    dbrown@businessinsider.com

Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) run across a street in Raqqa, Syria July 3, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) run across a street in Raqqa. Thomson Reuters

Turkey and the US-backed YPG forces — which have been helping the coalition fight ISIS in Syria — have been clashing off and on since at least April.

At the end of that month, the two sides exchanged rocket fire, which Turkey says killed 11 YPG fighters. In early July, Turkey deployed troops to the Kurdish-held border in northwest Syria, which the YPG commander called "a declaration of war."

YPG and Turkish-backed rebels — who the YPG call mercenaries — clashed in northwest Syria on Monday, Reuters reported. The YPG said it killed three Turkish-backed rebels and wounded four more.

Turkey views the YPG as a terrorist group and extension of the PKK, which has been trying to set up its own Kurdish state within Turkey for decades. And the US has placed itself right between the two sides.

Turkey is the third-largest purchaser of US weapons, and in early May, the US began supplying weapons to the YPG to help in the coalition's fight against ISIS.

More: http://www.businessinsider.com/turkey-and-the-kurds-are-brink-war-the-us-the-middle-2017-7

Business Insider is not topflight journalism by any means but they do offer up some interesting articles. Speaking of journalism, I haven't heard much from Zero Hedge lately, what's happened?

[TomSea]

Good lengthy article on the SDF and Kurds:

Excerpt:

On a recent night Shir led his men, on foot, to cross the western perimeter deeper into ISIS-controlled Raqqa. Huddled in groups of seven, they took up positions in the cover of darkness. At dawn they moved, taking control of a small group of buildings across a road that had served as a front line. They crossed into contested territory without incident and spent the morning trying to clear buildings of mines. Equipment was improvised. They tossed gunpowder wrapped tightly in masking tape into buildings, to set off any booby traps left behind by ISIS. To clear roadways, they stuffed gunpowder into empty cigarette boxes and wrapped them with electrical wire, stringing them into chains and laying them out onto the streets before setting them off.

In the early afternoon, an ISIS fighter driving an explosives-laden car began hurtling toward them. There was momentary panic, but the men opened fire on the vehicle with everything they had, finally causing it to explode.

From: The US Is Far More Deeply Involved In Syria Than You Know
https://www.buzzfeed.com/borzoudaragahi/the-war-on-isis-in-raqqa?utm_term=.fcOkwg8mb#.dnl6MA4E0

And then sniper fire came suddenly, pinning Shir’s men down.

Muzzle flashes could be seen from the sniper’s position inside the city. But there was nothing Shir or his men could do — at this point, retreating would be just as dangerous as advancing. So they did what they have to whenever ISIS manages to outmaneuver them in Raqqa: call for a US airstrike. They radioed in the coordinates of the sniper’s position to Halab, who passed them on to his SDF superiors. They sent the coordinates to their American counterparts, who relayed fresh orders to the US warplanes that swirl above the city 24 hours a day.

Within minutes, a series of rockets slammed into the building. The explosions could be heard for miles and sent a cloud of smoke spreading across the sky over the city. That was the end of the sniper fire, at least for the day.

So, sort of war stories type reading.

US involvement in the war against ISIS has changed markedly since Trump and his coalition of generals came to power. During the first years of the war against ISIS in northern Syria, under former president Barack Obama, the US kept a hands-off approach to the conflict, trying to limit its involvement. A US-led coalition aircraft might spot an ISIS position or vehicle and open fire, and fighters would move in afterwards if they were nearby. But now, under Trump, there is far closer coordination, in part because the US is less concerned about upsetting NATO partner Turkey by getting too close with Syria’s Kurds. When the SDF fighters get into trouble or need help to pave the way, they call in US airstrikes and artillery fire. And when the US forces see an opportunity to strike, they do so, before alerting Syrian fighters on the ground to move in. Acting in part on the recommendations of the outgoing Obama administration, the US has also expanded the flow of weapons and ammunition to the SDF.

@EC
You might enjoy this one.

[TomSea]

Those following the Kurds and those international fighters will find the article interesting.  Summing up, he says the Kurds did not really give them much training for this mission. Also, he says he doesn't believe Ryan Lock, the Brit, killed himself as has been concluded but that ISIS killed him.

We were cut to pieces’: First eyewitness account of how a Canadian died in Syria
By Stewart Bell   National Online Journalist, Investigative  Global News   

Eight months after a Canadian anti-ISIS fighter and his British comrade were killed in northern Syria, a member of their unit who survived the deadly clash has come forward with the first eyewitness account of what happened.

In an exclusive interview with Global News, Andrew Woodhead said he was with Nazzareno Tassone, a 24-year-old from St. Catharines, Ont., and Ryan Lock, 20, when they came under fierce attack from the so-called Islamic State.

Hours later, Tassone and Lock were dead. The Iraqi doctor who examined Tassone’s body said he had been tortured with cigarette burns. A U.K. coroner concluded that Lock shot himself to avoid being captured by ISIS.

Continued: http://globalnews.ca/news/3676959/canadian-died-syria-eyewitness-account/

   

[TomSea]

US announces opposition to Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum
Kurds react with outrage on social media, accusing the US of betrayal after joint battle against Islamic State
An Iraqi Kurd holds a Kurdish flag during an event to urge people to vote in the upcoming independence referendum in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq (AFP)
Saturday 16 September 2017 10:36 UTC
Last update:
Saturday 16 September 2017 15:50 UTC

The US officially declared its opposition to the Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum on Saturday, as the Kurdistan parliament unanimously voted in favour of holding it on 25 September.

"The United States does not support the Kurdistan Regional Government’s intention to hold a referendum later this month," the White House said in a statement on Friday. "The United States has repeatedly emphasized to the leaders of the Kurdistan Regional Government that the referendum is distracting from efforts to defeat ISIS [the Islamic State group] and stabilize the liberated areas."

"We therefore call on the Kurdistan Regional Government to call off the referendum and enter into serious and sustained dialogue with Baghdad, which the United States has repeatedly indicated it is prepared to facilitate."

Continued: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-officially-announces-opposition-iraqi-kurdish-independence-referendum-354535518

[TomSea]

Kurdistan
Rally planned for Kurdistan Region’s referendum in Washington on Sunday

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Kurds in the United States and others will rally at the Washington Monument in the heart of the US capitol on Sunday afternoon, on the heels of the US advising against the referendum and saying they cannot support it.
 
The Kurdistan Regional Government's Representative to the United States encouraged people to come.
 
"Join the Kurdistan referendum rally in Washington, D.C., this Sunday..." Representative Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman wrote in a tweet on Tuesday. "Live Kurdish music, flags, and fanfare."
 
Continued: http://www.rudaw.net/NewsDetails.aspx?pageid=329460

I hope the Kurds' situation can be fixed, this is talking about them in Iraq versus Syria.

Twitter: Lawk Ghafuri @LawkGhafuri

#US has lost over 4500 of it's Soldiers in #Iraqi territories, guess what ! #US lost 0 US soldeirs in #Kurdistan territories.

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
September 15, 2017
Statement by the Press Secretary on the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Proposed Referendum

The United States does not support the Kurdistan Regional Government’s intention to hold a referendum later this month. The United States has repeatedly emphasized to the leaders of the Kurdistan Regional Government that the referendum is distracting from efforts to defeat ISIS and stabilize the liberated areas.

Continued: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/09/15/statement-press-secretary-kurdistan-regional-governments-proposed

[TomSea]

Nouri al-Maliki killed more Arabs than Israel ever did: Kurdish official
By Rudaw 9 hours ago

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The deputy speaker of Kurdistan’s parliament has slammed comments from the Iraqi vice president about a “second Israel” in Kurdistan, saying the Iraqi leader killed more Arabs during his tenure than Israel ever did.
 
Maliki told US Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Silliman on Sunday that they will not allow a “second Israel” in Iraq, referring to Kurdistan’s planned referendum on independence.
 
“Israel has not killed as many Arabs as this man did,” Jafar Imniki, the parliament’s deputy speaker said in a statement. “He cut the bread of Kurdistan, Israel did not.”
 
The Iraqi government under then-Prime Minister Maliki decided to withhold the Kurdistan Region’s share of the Iraqi budget in 2014 following plans to export oil to international markets independent of Baghdad.

Continued: http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/180920176

The Kurds have had a referendum for an independent state in Iraq; beyond that, I'm not too informed on the situation.

It's hard to put some of these figures in a box and say all they did was bad, per Maliki.  Maybe it's the truth; but not in my view.