List of wars involving Kurdistan Region

This is a list of wars that Kurdish rebels and subsequently the autonomous Kurdistan Region has been involved in, since the establishment of Iraq in 1932.

Conflict Combatant 1 Combatant 2 Results President (1992–)
Ahmed Barzani revolt
(1931–1932)

Barzan tribe

Iraq
United Kingdom
Assyrian Levies[1] 		Iraqi victory
  • Revolt suppressed
  • Barzanis retreat to underground
  • Low-level insurgency continues through 1933
  • Another revolt by the Barzanis erupts in 1943
Not applicable
1943 Barzani revolt
(1943–1945)

Barzani tribesmen
Allied Kurdish tribes

Iraq Kingdom of Iraq Iraqi victory
  • Revolt suppressed
First Iraqi–Kurdish War
(1961–1970)

KDP
Supported by:
Iran Iran[2]
Israel
United States (alleged)[2]

Before 1968:
Iraq
Syria Syria (1963)
Supported by:
United States (from 1963)[3][4]
Egypt (1965)[5]
After 1968:
Ba'athist Iraq

Military stalemate[6]

Second Iraqi–Kurdish War
(1974–1975)

KDP
Iran
Supported by:
Israel

Iraq
Supported by:
Soviet Union[7] 		Iraqi victory[8]
  • KDP military and strategic failure
  • Peshmerga fighting ability destroyed
  • KDP–Iraq cease-fire
  • Failed PUK low-level insurgency
  • Iran withdrew its support for KDP
  • 1975 Algiers Agreement
  • Iraqi government reinstates full control over Kurdish-majority territories
1983–1986 Kurdish rebellions in Iraq
(1983-1986) 		KDP
Supported by:
Iran
PUK
Kurdish mujahideen 		Iraq Iraq Short-term military stalemate
  • Beginning of Al-Anfal campaign (1986–89) against the Kurds and defeat of the Kurdish rebellion
  • Kurdish KDP, PUK, and Mujahideen temporarily hold major enclaves in North Iraq
  • Long term Kurdish tactical failure
Kurdistan Region–PKK conflict
(1983–2025)
Supported by:

PUK (until 1991)

Supported by:
 Inconclusive
1991 Iraqi uprisings
 Shia and leftist elements of opposition:

Kurdish rebels:
Peshmerga:

Diplomatic Support:
United States[18]
Military Support Iran[19]

Ba'athist Iraq

Support:
MEK

Iraqi government military victory
Iraqi Kurdish Civil War
(1994–1997)

KDP
Supported by:
Iraq Iraq (from 1995)
Turkey (from 1997)
Iran (before 1995)

PUK
PKK[20]
SCIRI
KCP
Iraqi National Congress
Supported by:
Iran (from 1995)
Ba'athist Syria Syria
United States (1996)

Washington Agreement
Masoud Barzani
(KDP-controlled part)
Jalal Talabani
(PUK-controlled part)
Kurdistan Islamist Conflict
(2001–2003)

 United States (armed involvement after Viking Hammer)

Supported by:
Iran (alleged by PUK)[24]
KDP (alleged by PUK)[24]

Kurdistan Region–United States victory
Iraq War
(2003–2011) 		Invasion (2003)
Coalition of the willing Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region Iraqi National Congress

After invasion (2003–11)
 Iraq
 United States
 United Kingdom
MNF–I (2003–09)
 Kurdistan Region
Awakening Council

Invasion (2003)

Ba'athist Iraq Republic of Iraq

After invasion (2003–11)
Al-Qaeda in Iraq
Islamic Army in Iraq
Islamic State of Iraq
Mahdi Army
Ba'athist Iraq Naqshbandi Army
Hamas of Iraq
Jaysh al-Mujahideen
1920 Revolution Brigades
Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna

Victory
War in Iraq
(2013[29][30]–2017[31])

Allied groups:

Others:
Iran
Hezbollah
Liwa Zainebiyoun
Syria Syria[35]

CJTF–OIR
United States
United Kingdom
Canada[36][37]
Australia[38]
France
Italy
Netherlands
New Zealand[39]
Finland[40]
Denmark[41]

Islamic State Islamic State
 Iraqi and allied victory[44]
Masoud Barzani
2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict
(2017) 		Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Regional Government
PKK[45]
PDKI[46]
PAK[47]
White Flags (alleged)[48] 		Iraq
Supported by:
Iran[49] 		Iraqi victory

References

  1. ^ "آغا بطرس: سنحاريب القرن العشرين" (PDF). نينوس نيراري. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-08-12.
  2. ^ a b Wolfe-Hunnicutt, Brandon (2021). The Paranoid Style in American Diplomacy: Oil and Arab Nationalism in Iraq. Stanford University Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-5036-1382-9. As the IPC moved in opposition to Qasim, Israeli and Iranian covert assistance began to pour into Iraqi Kurdistan... Kurdish representatives reached out to the US embassy for the same... Available documentation does not prove conclusively that the United States provided covert assistance to the Kurds in the fall of 1962, but the documents that have been declassified are certainly suggestive—especially in light of the general US policy orientation toward Iraq during this period.
  3. ^ Wolfe-Hunnicutt, B. (2015). "Embracing Regime Change in Iraq: American Foreign Policy and the 1963 Coup d'etat in Baghdad". Diplomatic History. 39 (1): 98–125. doi:10.1093/dh/dht121. ISSN 0145-2096. Despite massive political, economic, and military aid to the fledgling Ba'thist government—including the provision of napalm weapons to assist the regime in what the Embassy regarded as a 'genocidal' counterinsurgency campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan—the first Ba'thist regime in Iraq proved 'not long for this world,' in the words of a rather gleeful British Ambassador. The Ba'th presided over a nine-month reign of terror, and the scale of the party's brutality shocked Iraqi sensibilities. Moreover, the Ba'th's association—in the public mind—with the American CIA only hastened its demise. In mid-November 1963, less than nine months after taking power, the Ba'th's rivals in the Iraqi Army deposed the Ba'th and rejoined Qasim's challenge to the IPC.
  4. ^ Wolfe-Hunnicutt, Brandon (2021). The Paranoid Style in American Diplomacy: Oil and Arab Nationalism in Iraq. Stanford University Press. pp. 126–127. ISBN 978-1-5036-1382-9.
  5. ^ "18. Iraq/Kurds (1932-present)".
  6. ^ Kingsbury, Damien (2021-02-27). Separatism and the State. Taylor & Francis. p. 133. ISBN 978-1-000-36870-3. Due to Qasim's distrust of the Iraqi army, he refused to properly arm it, leading to a military stalemate with the Kurds.
  7. ^ "17. Iraq/Kurds (1932-present)".
  8. ^ J. Schofield, Militarization and War, p. 122
  9. ^ "Iraq's Kurds and Turkey: Challenges for US Policy". USAWC Press.
  10. ^ "Syria and Iran 'backing Kurdish terrorist group', says Turkey". 3 September 2012.
  11. ^ "IKB'de yaşananlar PKK-IKB mi, PKK-KDP çatışması mı? "KDP-PKK arasında imzalanan protokolü PKK bozdu!"". Independent Türkçe. August 11, 2021.
  12. ^ "PKK ve Peşmergeler arasındaki gerilimle ilgili neler biliniyor?". BBC News Türkçe.
  13. ^ Bal, İdris (2004). Turkish Foreign Policy In Post Cold War Era. Boca Raton, Fl.: BrownWalker Press. p. 359. ISBN 9781581124231. With the explicit supports of some Arab countries for the PKK such as Syria...
  14. ^ Mannes, Aaron (2004). Profiles In Terror: The Guide To Middle East Terrorist Organizations. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 185. ISBN 9780742535251. PKK has had substantial operations in northern Iraq, with the support of Iran and Syria.
  15. ^ "Terrorism Havens: Iraq". Council on Foreign Relations. 1 December 2005. Archived from the original on 28 September 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016. Saddam has aided...the Kurdistan Workers' Party (known by its Turkish initials, PKK), a separatist group fighting the Turkish government.
  16. ^ Senbas, Demet (2018). Post-Cold War Relations between Turkey and Syria. p. 28. KDP and PUK thought that they needed Turkey's support against PKK which had gained Saddam's support.
  17. ^ "After Saddam Hussein - 92.12". www.theatlantic.com. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  18. ^ Colgan, Jeff D. (2013-01-31). Petro-Aggression: When Oil Causes War. Cambridge University Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-107-31129-9.
  19. ^ Terrill, W. Andrew (2004). The United States and Iraq's Shi'ite Clergy: Partners Or Adversaries?. Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-58487-153-8.
  20. ^ Gunter, Michael M. (1996). "The KDP-PUK Conflict in Northern Iraq" (PDF). Middle East Journal. 50 (2). Middle East Institute: 224–241. JSTOR 4328927.
  21. ^ a b "Iraqi political groupings and individuals". middleeastreference.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2007-03-05.
  22. ^ Masters of Chaos, Chapter 13 p. 7 Archived 2012-02-14 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ^ "Ansar al-Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan (Human Rights Watch Backgrounder)". Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  24. ^ a b A Modern History of the Kurds, David McDowall, 2021, pp. 592, ISBN 9780755600786
  25. ^ Graham, Bradley (7 April 2003). "U.S. Airlifts Iraqi Exile Force For Duties Near Nasiriyah". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  26. ^ "Deploying the Free Iraqi Forces – U.S. News & World Report". Usnews.com. 7 April 2003. Archived from the original on 4 February 2004. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  27. ^ [25][26]
  28. ^ Ephraim Kahana; Muhammad Suwaed (2009). The A to Z of Middle Eastern Intelligence. Scarecrow Press. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-8108-7070-3.
  29. ^ "The Rise and Fall of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (Levant) ISIS" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2017. The continued and even escalating sectarian tensions and acts like the demolition of demonstration camps led to an all-out revolt against the government institutions on the eve of the New Year 2014 in the western province Ramadi. ISIS seized this golden opportunity and gained control over a swath of territories in Anbar province, especially its two large cities, Ramadi and Fallujah.
  30. ^ Ackerman, Elliot (17 June 2014). "Watching ISIS Flourish Where We Once Fought". The New Yorker.
  31. ^ "Iraq declares final victory over Islamic State". Reuters. 9 December 2017.
  32. ^ a b Beaumont, Peter (12 June 2014). "How effective is Isis compared with the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga?". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  33. ^ a b "YNK: PKK and YPG are fighting in Şengal and Rabia against ISIS". 6 August 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  34. ^ Vager Saadullah (14 October 2015). "Politics Keep Syrian Kurdish Troops From Fighting in Their Homeland. Never mind Islamic State—one faction rejects another's fighters". Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  35. ^ "Syria pounds ISIS bases in coordination with Iraq". Daily Star. 15 June 2014. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  36. ^ "Seven Countries to sell weapons to Kurds". BasNews. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  37. ^ "Operation IMPACT". Government of Canada. 19 August 2014. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  38. ^ Adam Vidler (31 August 2014). "Australia to take up military role in Iraq conflict". Retrieved 2014-08-31.
  39. ^ https://www.nzdf.mil.nz/assets/Uploads/DocumentLibrary/ArmyNews_Issue544.pdf
  40. ^ "Involvement of Finnish SOF in the Battle of Mosul. Dutch government report" (in Dutch). Government of the Netherlands.
  41. ^ "Enhedslisten støtter dansk våbenfly til kurdere i Irak" (in Danish). DR. DR. 24 August 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  42. ^ "Iraq's Sunnis Form Tribal Army, as Sectarian Violence Builds". NPR.
  43. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2023-02-16. Retrieved 2025-04-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  44. ^ England, Andrew (9 December 2017). "Iraq announces defeat of Isis". Manama, Bahrain: Financial Times. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  45. ^ "Kurdistan Peshmerga:Reports of PKK in Kirkuk untrue". Rudaw. 16 October 2017. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  46. ^ "مليشيات الحشد تتقدم نحو بلدة شمال كركوك تضم مقرات احزاب كوردية ايرانية معارضة – باسنیوز". Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  47. ^ "We are only 1,000, but we fight like 10,000,' says leader of Kurdistan Freedom Party". The Irish Times. 26 December 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  48. ^ Al-awsat, Asharq. "Middle-east Arab News Opinion". aawsat.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  49. ^ "Iranian General Helped Iraqis Seize Kirkuk From U.S. Allies". NBC News. 18 October 2017. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  50. ^ "Territory lost by Kurds in Iraq". Al Jazeera.
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  52. ^ "Iraqi forces drive Kurdish fighters out of town of Sinjar". TheGuardian.
  53. ^ "Iraq takes disputed areas as Kurds 'withdraw to 2014 lines'". BBC.
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