Iraqi Kurds struggle to avoid regional conflicts

Iraqi Kurds have performed a balancing act to remain largely impartial in the conflicts swirling around them.
Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters stand with their weapons in Tel Hamis in Hasaka countryside March 1, 2015. Kurdish forces dealt a blow to Islamic State by capturing Tel Hamis, an important town, on Friday in the latest stage of a powerful offensive in northeast Syria, a Kurdish militia spokesman said. The capture of Tel Hamis was announced by the Kurdish YPG militia and confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the country's civil war. REUTERS/Rodi Said (SYRIA - T
Kurdish People's Protection Units fighters stand with their weapons in Tel Hamis in Hasakah countryside, March 1, 2015. - REUTERS/Rodi Said
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Mohammed A. Salih
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ERBIL, Iraq — As a coalition of Sunni Arab states led by Saudi Arabia targets Shiite Houthi forces and their allies in Yemen, Iraqi Kurds are watching with concern and caution, wondering how the repercussions of the region's deepening sectarian conflicts might affect them.

Sandwiched geographically between opposing Shiite and Sunni regional powers such as Iran and Turkey, Iraqi Kurds wonder how long until they are dragged into the unfolding regional hostilities. 

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