Kurdish Peshmerga

Peshmerga پێشمەرگه Pêşmerge
The flag of Kurdistan which Peshmerga uses as their emblem, uniform patch, and battle flag alongside the Iraqi flag.
Active	Early 1920s–present
Allegiance	Iraqi Kurdistan
Branch	Army
Size	241,000 (2017 estimation)
Headquarter	Erbil
March	Ey Reqîb
Engagements	First Iraqi–Kurdish War Second Iraqi–Kurdish War Iran–Iraq War Persian Gulf War Iraq War Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present) War on Terror Syrian Civil War Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013) Iraqi Civil War (2014–present) Other battles and wars
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief	Masoud Barzani
Minister of Peshmerga Affairs	Mustafa Qadir Mustafa Aziz
Chief of Staff	Lieutenant General Jabar Yawar
Notable commanders	Mustafa Barzani (1943-1975) Ali Askari (1961-1978) Kosrat Rasul Ali (1991-) Jabar Farman (1993-1995) Kemal Kirkuki Jawhar Namiq (Salim Sorani) Sheikh Jaafar Sheikh Mustafa Mustafa Faraj Jalal Talabani Mama Risha Mahmoud Othman Idris Barzani

Peshmerga (Central Kurdish: پێشمەرگە‎, translit. Pêşmerge, lit. 'Before death', IPA: [peːʃmɛɾˈɡɛ]) are the military forces of the autonomous region 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 the 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.Peshmerga forces are responsible for defending the land, people and institutions of Iraqi Kurdistan.

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 and (Dzha Terror) (assisting intelligence agency) and the Zeravani (military police).

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