British MP calls for special treatment for wounded Peshmerga

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A British Member of Parliament on Thursday called on the UK government to pay “particular treatment” to the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters who were injured while fighting the Islamic State (IS).

MP Jack Lopresti, who recently became the Kurdistan All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Chairman, asked the UK government to “ensure access to medical care and treatment” for wounded Peshmerga during Thursday’s Parliamentary session.

He also requested the government consider flying in the most “badly-wounded” Peshmerga fighters to the UK for specialist care.

During a counter-IS update by Secretary of State for Defense Michael Fallon, Lopresti highlighted the “vital and ongoing contribution” of the Peshmerga to the defeat of IS.

Lopresti, who described the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters as “brave heroes,” also called on the government to provide “every possible assistance in training, equipment, and weaponry.”

Fallon assured the MP that the Minister for the Middle East, Tobias Ellwood, was “looking at that very specific point.”

The Defense Secretary also paid tribute to the Peshmerga and highlighted the cooperation between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Baghdad in the fight to retake Mosul from IS militants.

Peshmerga forces were the initial frontline of defense against IS since its emergence in northern Iraq in 2014. Over 1,700 Peshmerga have fallen so far, and more than 10,000 have been injured in the fight against the jihadist group.