WATCH: About 400 Peshmerga graduate from Zakho Military Academy

ZAKHO, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – On Saturday, 392 Peshmerga soldiers graduated from Zakho Military Academy.

In a special ceremony attended by several Kurdish officials and military commanders, hundreds of male and female Peshmerga from the college’s 22nd group of alumni graduated.

Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani's envoy to Sinjar (Shingal) city Sarbast Lezgin congratulated the graduates on behalf of the President.

He highlighted the role of the Academy in producing heroic Peshmerga who play a vital role in protecting the Kurdistan Region from the threat of the Islamic State (IS) on all front lines.

There are currently over 240,000 Peshmerga soldiers in the Region who have been protecting over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) of Kurdistan’s border against the insurgent group since mid-2014.

“Peshmerga has been one of the most effective fighting forces against [IS],” former US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter previously said.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany