Appendix E
Glossary of Arabic and Kurdish Terms
Amn: Security (as in Mudiriyat al-Amn al-Ameh, General Security Directorate)
Chatta: Bandit or brigand; derogatory term for jahsh in Badinan region
Intifada: Uprising
Istikhbarat: Military Intelligence
Jahsh: Donkey foal; derogatory term for Kurdish National Defense Battalions
Lak: Peshmerga Branch Command (KDP)
Mafarez Khaseh: Special Unit (Kurdish section of Amn)
Maghawir: Commandos
Malband: Peshmerga Regional Command (PUK)
Mujamma'a: Complex or collective village used for Kurdish resettlement
Mukhabarat: Foreign Intelligence Agency
Mustashar: Adviser or consultant; Kurdish tribal commander of a jahsh unit
Nahya: Administrative unit; district center, and the villages within its jurisdiction
Peshmerga: "Those who face death"; Kurdish guerrilla fighters
Qadha: The largest administrative unit within a governorate
Rajima: Truck-mounted multiple-barrel artillery, sometimes used to deliver chemical weapons
Sura: Chapter of the Koran
Teep: Division; basic PUK military unit within the malband