Islamic State threat boosts business for Kurdish gunsmith IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — In gunsmith Bahktiyar Sadr-Aldeen's workshop in this Kurdish city in northern Iraq, every weapon has a story. Sadr-Aldeen, an Iraqi Kurd, has seen his business shoot up by 50 percent since last June, when the Islamic State took over the Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Irbil. The Kurdish fighting force known as the pershmerga has been at war against the Sunni extremists ever since, keeping Aldeen busy. "[...] the whole of Iraq is in war because of Daesh," said Sadr-Aldeen, using one of the Islamic State's alternative names. Located in a cellar in Irbil's bazaar, the shop is a well-known spot for peshmerga soldiers. Sometimes he goes out to the front lines himself, mostly to repair heavy weapons that can't be transported.