| Usama is an Iraqi-American currently residing in Erbil, Iraq. |
| Their harrowing escape to Erbil has ended in a precarious and hardscrabble existence. |
| In Iraq, they stepped in to take areas that the federal security forces abandoned and battled to protect Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq. |
| In July 2008, a fact-finding visit to Erbil and Sulaymaniya in Iraq took place at the invitation of the Kurdistan Regional Government. |
| The US and France have rushed military aid to Erbil to help Kurdish Peshmurga forces take on ISIS, whose forces got as close as 50km from the city limits earlier in the week, before being pushed back by US air strikes. |
| The vehicles were approaching Erbil, the capital city of Iraqi Kurdistan, were many U.S. diplomatic and military personnel reside. |
