Kurds

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.

In northern Iraq, Kurdish fighters have won back territory from the so-called Islamic State only to lose it again. ISIS is using a range of explosives, inflicting heavy Kurdish casualties.

Until August, 24-year-old Aza Betwata was in Holland, enjoying beef and cabbage and studying to be a social worker. Now, he's among the hundreds of exiled Kurds who have returned and taken up arms.

Turkey's deep suspicions of Kurds are hampering efforts to aid the besieged Syrian border town. Turkish authorities are stopping Kurdish men en route to Kobani and investigating them as terrorists.