KIRKUK, Iraq — Peshmerga fighters around Kirkuk feel abandoned by the Peshmerga Ministry and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) amid the petty rivalry of the two main parties that command the force.
Falah, Arkan and Masoud served together near the village of Albu Mohammad, which marks the front line between the peshmerga and Islamic State (IS) militants to the south of Kirkuk. Just before midnight on Aug. 11, some three dozen IS militants snuck into the area and surrounded the peshmerga posts. A firefight broke out and most peshmerga fighters retreated, leaving the three friends on their own. In a video released later by IS, relaxed militants are shown walking around the peshmerga positions, setting them alight and emptying bullets into the body of one of the men. The body of another is seen under a militant's foot. By the end of the battle, the three friends lay dead and seven other fighters wounded. IS seized their weapons and ammunition.
