Frag Out! Magazine

We accompanied a Private Security Company (PSC) on their job in northern Iraq. With the guys from Trans Atlantic Viking Security (TAV), we made our way through the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq. Our destination: the front line in the fight against ISIS/ISIL. Our route: from Erbil to Kirkuk, and from there a bit southwards to the HQ on an Iraqi General. But already outside of Erbil, anything goes. We make our way using armored SUVs, our escort is armed and everyone got a briefing before we rolled. It's no unusual for vehicles to take small arms fire. Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are also possible. We are spared that experience, but the conversation between the team leader and the driver is telling: "Isn't that the place we got hit the last time? Fortunately only a small charge, only took out a tire and fender." On our way to Kirkuk we pass through several check points, where we – easily identifiable as westerners, get waved through quickly. The landscape changes, slowly the hills are replaced with arid plains. 45 minutes to Kirkuk, looking at the map we expected a longer ride. Going through the city one can observe several patrols roaming the streets. Already before the city limits there were several compounds lining the road, but most of them look like they could be a left over from the time the coalition forces were here. After Kirkuk, the Daesh comes dangerously close to the motorway. The defensive positions of the Kurdish fighters are easily recognizable from the car. Sometimes a small hill with a bunker on top, other times an earthen wall, resembling a semi-trench. "Where you see the smoke rising over there, that's ISIS territory," the driver tells us. www. fra-

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