| Iraq’s Barzani vows to defend Syrian Kurds from al-Qaeda |
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 The president of Iraqi Kurdistan vowed on Saturday to defend the large Kurdish population in neighboring Syria from "al-Qaeda terrorists".
The comments from Masoud Barzani follow weeks of clashes in predominantly Kurdish parts of northeastern Syria between Kurdish fighters and foreign-sponsored insurgents that have killed dozens on both sides, The Associated Press reported.
In a statement posted on the Kurdistan Regional Government's official website, Barzani called for a delegation to visit Kurdish areas in Syria to verify the reports that "al-Qaeda terrorists" are killing Kurds. If confirmed, then Iraqi Kurdistan "will make use of all its capabilities to defend the Kurdish women, children and citizens in western Kurdistan," he said.
Barzani offered no other details about how he would protect Syria's Kurds. Iraqi Kurdistan boasts a powerful armed force known as the peshmerga, which includes experienced and equipped fighters hardened by years of guerrilla warfare.
But Barzani seems unlikely to risk a direct military intervention. Such a move would likely trigger a furious reaction from Iraq's central government as well as neighboring Turkey, which has been wrestling with its own Kurdish insurgency for decades.
Some 25 million Kurds live in an arc of land that covers parts of Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq.
Iraq's Kurds control three provinces in the country's north, where they have established a largely autonomous region that has all the trappings of an independent state, though it's still heavily reliant on Iraq's central government for funding.
While its relations with Baghdad remain tense, the region enjoys a level of prosperity and security unrivaled in the rest of Iraq. It has welcomed tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds since the conflict broke out in March 2011.
In Syria, Kurds are the largest ethnic minority, making up more than 10 percent of the country's 23 million people. They are centered in the poor northeastern regions of Hassakeh and Qamishli, wedged between the borders of Turkey and Iraq. There are also several predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods in the capital, Damascus, and Syria's largest city, Aleppo.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions of others displaced in the violence.
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