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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

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