Iraq’s Kurdish forces look to a new era after US withdrawal

Iraq’s Kurdish forces are entering a new era following the withdrawal of US-led international forces that had been in the country to fight ISIL (ISIS). On Wednesday, the United States announced the formal end of Operation Inherent Resolve, its name for the 12-year-long campaign to defeat ISIL, and the completion of the withdrawal of its military forces from Iraq. Other partners in the war against the armed group also withdrew from Iraq, in accordance with a September 30 deadline set by Washington and Baghdad two years prior. For years, Iraq’s Kurdish forces – known as the Peshmerga – have relied on close military support from coalition forces, and the US in particular, to safeguard their autonomy and defend against ISIL.