Q&A: Mustafa Sayid Qadir, Minister of Peshmerga Affairs

ERBIL - In June, when militants from the so-called Islamic State (formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS) launched their major offensive to capture much of northern Iraq, Kurdish officials hoped that the autonomous region would stay above the fray.

Kurdish Peshmerga solidified control over territories long claimed as their own, after the Iraqi Army fled in the face of the ISIS advance. The KRG now shares a 1,050 kilometer border with a mix of ISIS, Baathist groups and other Sunni insurgents.