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After Coalition Withdrawal, Iraqi Kurds Want More Protection
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Source: Fair Observer
On September 30, the US-led international anti-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) coalition completely left the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The coalition, formed in 2014 to fight ISIS, enacted the withdrawal as part of a two-phase plan agreed on in September 2024 by the Biden administration and the Iraqi government. The plan aimed to end the coalition’s military mission in Iraq, and the first phase was completed in January 2026. The withdrawal raised fears among Kurdish citizens that the region could be targeted by continued drone and missile strikes, or face a resurgence of jihadist militants. These fears were immediately reinforced given that on the same day of the withdrawal, a drone strike hit an empty cemetery belonging to the Iranian Kurdish opposition party Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI). So far, there have been five Iranian drone and missile attacks on Iranian Kurdish opposition parties since the Coalition withdrawal on 30 September.
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Read the original at Fair Observer
