As the fight against Islamic State rages in Iraq, the semiautonomous Kurdistan region is wading into a battle of different sorts. Its government is in London to woo international investors for a new bond issue, the latest among fringe emerging markets.

The Kurdistan Regional Government is planning to raise cash through a bond sale, its first ever, as it seeks to plug a gaping hole in its finances thanks to weaker oil-sale revenues amid an increasingly costly battle with the radical militants.

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