Kurdistan

Senior IRGC Navy officer dies in car crash as insurgencies escalate across western Iran

This comes after four members of Iran's IRGC were killed, and several others were wounded in what the IRGC described as "terrorist" shootings in western Iran on the same day as the crash.

 A man looks through a screen during a state funeral service in Enqelab Square, for military commanders and others killed in the recent war with Israel on June 28, 2025 in Tehran, Iran. Israel and and Iran traded daily aerial attacks over a 12-day period until a ceasefire took effect on June 24.
Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) run across a street in Raqqa, Syria, July 3, 2017.

Is a new insurgency brewing? Kurdish rebels clash with IRGC in major border escalation - analysis

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio takes part in a media briefing during the 58th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' meeting and related meetings at the Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 10, 2025.

Marco Rubio in UAE warns Iran-backed militias in Iraq threaten regional stability

Members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) participate in a military drill in an outpost near Erbil, Kurdistan region of Iraq on January 15, 2026.

Will Iraq finally help protect Kurdistan's oil fields from drone attacks? - analysis


Iran-backed militias escalate drone attacks on US, Kurdistan targets in Iraq

Iran is also targeting Kurdish opposition groups in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq.

Iraqi security forces stand guard during a funerary procession for a slain member of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) in Baghdad on March 8, 2026.

Drone strike hits Erbil refinery halting operations, Riyadh intercepts Iranian missiles, drones

A drone strike caused a fire at an Iraqi refinery, while Saudi Arabia intercepted Iranian missiles and drones targeting key regions.

A gas flare burns at the Lanaz refinery after it was targeted by a drone strike, in Erbil, Iraq, March 14, 2026.

After French soldier killed in Iraq, will Baghdad stop attacks?

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, who have been targeting the Kurdistan Region with drones and missiles, were likely behind a drone attack that killed a French soldier.

A soldier is stationed at the entrance to the Varces barracks south of Grenoble in the Isere department on Friday 13 March 2026 where was based Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion a soldier with the 7th Alpine Chasseurs Battalion who was killed in an attack in the Erbil region of Iraq.

French officer killed, at least five soldiers wounded in drone strike on base in Iraq’s Makhmour

Macron called the attack "unacceptable" and said that the French troops were stationed in the region as part of France's support in fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

French soldiers at a military outpost outside the Kurdish city of Erbil, Iraq, January 2, 2017.

Airstrike on Italian base in Iraq was deliberate, defense minister says

The defense ministry initially spoke of a missile attack on the Italian base in Erbil, but ministry sources later said it was a drone that had destroyed a military vehicle, possibly by accident.

A general view shows the Dukan dam in Sulaimaniyah in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region on March 11, 2026.

Are Iranian drone attacks on consulate in Erbil a red line for the UAE? - analysis

It was the latest attempt by the Iranian regime and Iranian-backed militias to target the UAE, which has been attacked with hundreds of drones and missiles since the war with Iran broke out.

Iranian Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) take part in a training session at a base on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq February 12, 2026.

Iranian debris damages UAE petrol facility, drones damage Bahraini residences, injures 32 civilians

Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar also came under attack, as Oman's Muscat airport limited private jet flights into the Gulf State's capital.

Fire and smoke rise in the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, caused by debris after interception of a drone by air defenses, UAE, March 4, 2026; illustrative.

Trump pragmatically changes course, 'has no interest' in Kurdish offensive in Iran

"I don't want to see the Kurds get hurt and killed. And we've had a good relationship. They're willing to go in. But we really, I've told them I don't want them to go in," the US president said.

US President Donald Trump, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at his side, looks on as he speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on a flight from Dover, Delaware, to Miami, Florida, US, March 7, 2026.

‘Regime fall is inevitable,’ Iranian academic says as war enters second week

Members of the IRGC, the Basij, and other repressive forces still deployed in the streets have become fatigued and desperate, the officer said.

Members of special IRGC forces attend a rally marking the annual Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan in Tehran, Iran April 29, 2022.

Why the Kurds are suddenly in the spotlight during the war with Iran - explainer

As Iranian proxies target Iraq's Kurdistan, the US is reportedly courting Kurdish Iranian militias for a ground front. Groups remain split between seizing the moment and avoiding total war.

Iranian Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) take part in a training session at a base on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq February 12, 2026.