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peshmerga

Iraqi security forces advance in military vehicles in Kirkuk on Oct. 16, 2017.

US allies turn their US guns on each other in Iraq

Conflict

Iraqi forces took the disputed city of Kirkuk from the control of the Kurds — both allies in the US-led coalition against ISIS. President Donald Trump says the US won't take sides.

US allies turn their US guns on each other in Iraq
Capt. Khatoon Khider, left, commander of the all-female Yazidi Sun Brigade, with her sister, Aliya, in a home near the city of Dohuk, in Iraqi Kurdistan, on Sept. 24.

These Yazidi sisters took up arms to take revenge against ISIS

Conflict
These Yazidi sisters took up arms to take revenge against ISIS
The "Colonel," 48, looks out at a small village outside Kirkuk littered with homemade bombs from ISIS militants. He team has to clear away IEDs set by ISIS militants, but they have little equipment to do the job.

Kurdish bomb experts defuse IEDs on a shoestring

Conflict
Kurdish bomb experts defuse IEDs on a shoestring
Dean Parker, a commercial housepainter and avid surfer from Florida, traveled to northern Iraq to fight with the Kurdish Peshmerga against ISIS.

Meet the surfing grandfather from Florida who helped the Kurds fight ISIS

Conflict
Meet the surfing grandfather from Florida who helped the Kurds fight ISIS
A Kurdish peshmerga fighter holds up a piece of clothing worn by an ISIS fighter on December 18, 2014. Kurdish peshmerga fighters have fought their way to Iraq's Sinjar mountain and freed hundreds of people trapped there by ISIS.

Kurdish fighters finally end the months-long siege of Mount Sinjar

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Kurdish fighters finally end the months-long siege of Mount Sinjar
Female fighters from Colonel Nahida's peshmerga battalion view the front lines with ISIS.

Meet the female colonel leading Kurdish forces into battle against ISIS

Conflict

Nahida Ahmed Rashid began her military career years ago, fighting for the Kurdish separatist cause. Now she's the highest-ranking woman in the Kurdish peshmerga and squaring off with her troops against Islamic militants who've taken northern Iraq by storm.

Meet the female colonel leading Kurdish forces into battle against ISIS