Editing Peshmerga (section)

==Issues==
Peshmerga has been accused of corruption, partisanship, nepotism and fraud.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Peshmerga of Iraq |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insideiraq/2008/03/2008525185811788617.html |work=[[Aljazeera.com]] |date=1 March 2008 |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=KRG and the 'godfathers': 2006 secret US cable on Wikileaks |url=http://kurdistantribune.com/2014/krg-godfathers-2006-secret-cable-on-wikileaks/ |work=The Kurdistan Tribune |date=8 May 2014 |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Jacqueline |last=Devigne |title="Iraqoncilable" Differences? The Political Nature of the Peshmerga |url=http://tiglarchives.org/sites/default/files/resources/nimep/v5/NIMEP_Insights_2011_48-64.pdf |work=NIMEP Insights |date=2011 |access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2014/3/state7820.htm|title=PUK official warns Peshmerga will not take orders from anyone else: Iraqi Kurdistan|access-date=20 March 2015}}</ref>  Peshmerga is accused of listing
"ghost employees" who do not exist or do not show up for work but receive a salary. Those setting up such a scam split the salary of these employees.<ref name="Helfont2017" />

In addition the KDP and PUK have used the Peshmerga to exert  a monopoly on the use of force within their zones.<ref name="Helfont2017" /> In 2011 KDP Peshmerga fired on anti-government protesters in Sulaymaniyah, and the PUK later used its own security forces to break up these protests,<ref name="CMEC" /> leading to criticism from all of the opposition parties in the parliament. In 2014 the KDP used its Peshmerga to stop ministers from the [[Gorran Movement]] to enter Erbil and attend parliament.<ref name="Helfont2017" />

Outside of [[Kurdistan Region]] the Peshmerga has been criticized for using force to exert control of local [[Arab]], [[Yazidi]] and [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] communities, particularly after taking control of areas officially outside of Kurdistan Region during the [[Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017)|Iraqi Civil War]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/11/13/marked-x/iraqi-kurdish-forces-destruction-villages-homes-conflict-isis|title=Marked With An "X" {{!}} Iraqi Kurdish Forces' Destruction of Villages, Homes in Conflict with ISIS|date=2016-11-13|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=2018-04-24|language=en}}</ref>