Portal:Kurdistan/Selected article/9

Peshmerga are the largely improvised military forces of Iraqi Kurdistan. The overall formal head of the peshmerga is the President of Iraqi Kurdistan. The peshmerga force itself is largely divided and controlled separately by the Democratic Party of Kurdistan and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, although both pledge allegiance to the Kurdistan Regional Government. Efforts are under way to gather the entire force under the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs.

Because the Iraqi Army is forbidden by law from entering Iraqi Kurdistan, the Peshmerga along with other Kurdish security subsidiaries are responsible for the security of the Kurdish Region. These subsidiaries include Asayish (official intelligence agency), Parastin u Zanyarî (assisting intelligence agency) and the Zeravani (military police).

In 2003 during the Iraq War, the peshmerga are said to have played a key role in the mission to capture Saddam Hussein. In 2004 peshmerga forces captured al-Qaeda key figure Hassan Ghul who revealed the identity of Osama Bin Laden's messenger, which eventually led to Operation Neptune Spear and the assassination of Osama Bin Laden.