Peshmerga
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| Peshmerga | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1890-Present |
| Country | Iraqi Kurdistan Region |
| Branch | Army |
| Role | Domestic Defense |
| Size | 100,000 - 150,000 |
| March | Ey Reqîb (English: "Hey Guardian"), (Kaki Peshmerga) |
| Battles/wars | Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm, Gulf War: Operation Iraqi Freedom , (Various other Battle/Wars) |
Peshmerga, pesh merga, peshmarga or peshmerge (Kurdish: pêşmerge) is the term used by Kurds to refer to armed Kurdish fighters. Literally meaning "those who face death" (pêş front + merg death e is) the peshmerga forces of Kurdistan have been around since the advent of the Kurdish independence movement in the early 1920s, following the collapse of the Ottoman and Qajar empires which had jointly ruled over the area always known as Kurdistan. The term was coined by the Kurdish leader and writer Ibrahim Ahmed. Peshmerga forces often wear traditional Kurdish garbs, e.g. sharwal (baggy trousers) and a plain jacket, with colourful sashes.
Peshmerga forces are often affiliated to prominent personalities such as Sheikh Mahmud or are affiliated to political parties such as the PUK, KDP.
[edit] History
Through much of the late 1900s, Peshermga often came into conflict with Iraqi forces, using Guerilla Warfare style tactics against them. Many of these Peshmerga were led by Mustafa Barzani of the PDK, while others were under the command of the PUK. After Mustafa Barzani's death, his son Masoud Barzani took his position. Most of the Peshmerga's efforts were to keep a region under the specific party's control and to fight off any incursions by the Republican Guard of Iraq. They also came into conflict with PKK forces who came across the border from Turkey.
Following the First Gulf War, Northern Iraq fell into a state of civil war between the KDP and PUK, and their peshmerga forces were used to fight each other.
During the 2006 Anfal campaign trial, the defense team of Saddam Hussein said Peshmerga, a group of separatist guerillas, sided with Iran in its war with Iraq.[1]
[edit] Roots of the Peshmerga (1890-Present)
[edit] The Hamidiya Cavalry (1891-1908)
[edit] Shaykh Mahmud Barzanji Revolt (1919-1921)
[edit] Emergence of Barzani’s Forces and the Barzani Revolt (1943-1945)
[edit] The Mahabad Republic (1945-1946)
[edit] Peshmerga in the USSR (1947-1958)
[edit] Barzani's Return to Iraq / Prelude to War (1958-1961)
[edit] The Kurdish-Iraqi War (1961-1970)
Mustafa Barzani allied the KDP (PDK) with Israel in 1963. The peshmerga were trained and commanded by officers from Israels military intelligence and the Israelis participated in the Kurdish war from 1965. The Israeli-commanded peshmerga were highly effective and killed thousands of Iraqi troops.
[edit] Peshmerga and the Barzani-Talabani/Ahmed Split
[edit] The Second Kurdish-Iraqi War (1974-1975)
Israel's military presence in Kurdistan was evacuated after the US and Iran abandoned Iraq's Kurds. The Kurdish troops were now left without their Israeli officers.
[edit] Creation of the PUK (1975-1979)
[edit] The Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)
[edit] Peshmerga During Operation Desert Storm and The 1991 Uprisings (1990-1991)
Domestic Jewish political influence in Washington enabled the recreation of the Kurdish self-governing region. American and Israeli training turned the peshmerga into a highly effective military force.
[edit] The Kurdish Civil War (1995-1998)
The civil war among the peshmergas of the PUK and the KDP held up the military development of the peshmerga as the attention was no longer on outside threats.
[edit] Peshmerga During Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003)
[edit] Peshmerga in the New Iraq (2003-Present)
The Peshmerga are the only Iraqi military forces on which the American-led alliance can rely. They have became an highly effective military force in its own right. The Peshmergas of the PUK and the KDP have now formally been united into one military force.
[edit] Current State
Peshmerga forces fought side by side with American troops in the 2003 Iraq War in Iraqi Kurdistan. Since that time the Peshmerga have assumed full responsibility for the security of the Kurdish areas of Northern Iraq.
In early 2005 it was speculated by Newsweek magazine that Peshmerga forces could be trained by the US to take on Sunni rebels in Iraq.
In late 2004, when Arab Iraqi Police and ING (Iraqi National Guard) units in the city of Mosul collapsed in the face of an insurgent uprising, Kurdish Peshmerga battalions, who had recently been converted into ING forces, led the counter-attack alongside US military units. To this day, there are a number of Kurdish battalions of former Peshmerga in the Iraqi Army serving in Northern Iraq.
It is estimated that as of January, 2005 there were 80,000 Peshmerga fighters in Iraqi Kurdistan. A February 2005 The New York Times article mentioned that Massoud Barzani wants to retain the Peshmerga forces. The article estimates their number to be 100,000.
The peshmergas are an active partner in the American-led coalition in Iraq. Many peshmerga are fluent in Arabic, in contrast to foreign coalition troops, and they therefore play an important role in the Sunni triangle of Central Iraq. On the strategic level the peshmergas are ready to fight a guerilla war in case of a Turkish or an Iranian invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan.
[edit] Current Equipment of the Peshmerga
- Individual Weapons
- Assault Rifle
- AK-47 (Assault Rifle - 7.62 x 39 mm)
- AK-74 (Assault Rifle - 5.45 x 39 mm)
- Heckler & Koch G3
- Machine Gun
- Sniper Rifle
- SVD Dragunov (Sniper Rifle - 7.62 × 54 mmR)
- M-40A1 (Sniper Rifle - 7.62 × 51 mm)
- Anti-Tank Explosive
- RPG-7 (rocket-propelled grenade launcher - 40 mm)
- Man-Portable Air-Defence System
- Assault Rifle
- Vehicles
- Main Battle Tank
- Infantry Fighting Vehicle
- Armoured Personal Carrier
- MT-LB (7.62x54 PKT main gun, 10 passengers)
- BTR-60 (14.5x115 main gun, 7.62x54 coax, 12 passengers)
- Self-Propelled Artillery
- 122mm 2S1 M-1974 (122mm, maximum range with regular shell; 15.3 km, rocket assisted; 21.9 km)
- Towed Artillery
- Mortar
[edit] Conditions
Unlike the other militias, the Peshmerga were not prohibited by the transitional government. They are usually armed with AK-47s and AK-74s, RPKs (light Soviet machine guns) and DShKs (heavy Soviet machine guns). During the American-led invasion the Peshmerga captured the rest of the arms of the Iraqi forces, consisting of more than 2000 armored vehicles (some hundred of them PT-76s and a smaller number of T-55s) and an unknown number of artillery guns. Peshmerga forces do make use of female fighters, making Kurdistan one of only three entities in the Middle East that actively uses female soldiers (others being Israel and Iran). [citation needed]
[edit] See also
- Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran
- Islamic Movement of Kurdistan
- Komalah
- Kurdistan Workers Party
- Khabat
[edit] External links
- Willing to face Death: A History of Kurdish Military Forces - the Peshmarga - from the Ottoman Empire to Present-Day Iraq by Michael G. Lortz
- Newsweek article speculating on Peshmerga involvement against the Iraqi rebellion
- The New York Times article about the current status of Peshmerga
- Kurds plan to Invade South -"'It doesn't matter if we have to fight the Arabs in our own battalion,' said Gabriel Mohammed, a Kurdish soldier in the Iraqi army... 'Kirkuk will be ours.'
