Kurds

The Kurdish security chief says his Peshmerga fighters have gained ground against ISIS. But the big prize in northern Iraq is Mosul, and he says the Iraqi army will be needed for that battle.

From a nearby mountain, Kurdish forces can see look down into the strategic city. An Iraqi-led assault on the city is planned, but for now the frustrated men hold their territory and train.

In the Kurdish city of Halabja, young men have been disappearing to join ISIS. It's a trend the authorities don't really want to discuss. But they are clamping down to try to make it stop.

With Iraq's military in tatters and U.S. forces gone, the Kurdish peshmerga is the only viable force to stave off ISIS in Iraq. With little support from Baghdad, discontent grows among the fighters.

Kurdish groups have often quarreled among themselves, or at least kept their distance. But Kurds from Iraq and Turkey have been fighting side by side in northern Iraq against the Islamic State.

The Kurds are deeply involved in the current conflicts in Syria and Iraq. But their roles vary in countries throughout the region, so we wanted to step back and take a broader look at the Kurds.