'Peshmerga spilled blood; they need weapons'

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Peshmerga have spilled their blood in the fight against Islamic State (IS), and all they ask for are weapons, said a senior Kurdish official on Friday.

Discussing Peshmerga needs combatting IS, Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) Chancellor Masrour Barzani stated in an interview with Vice News, “Peshmerga weapons are very obsolete and very old. This is very unfortunate because everybody is praising Peshmerga as the most effective ground forces against ISIS [Islamic State]."

"But when it comes to arming the Kurds, we have been crying out many times for more modern and effecient weapons, but unfortunately, we haven’t received any, especially heavy arms,” Barzani added.

The KRSC Chancellor urged the international community to respond to the needs of the Peshmerga. “It is the responsibility of the international community to provide whatever they can to arm the Kurds exactly as they would arm their sons and daughters,” he continued. “We are fighting, we are giving [sic] blood, and we are getting killed. All we want are [modern] weapon[s].”

Barzani mentioned that the irony is that there are agreements for the international community to send weapons to Baghdad before ostensibly forwarded to the Kurdistan Region, but the Iraqi Army is not as effective or as successful in defeating IS as much as Peshmerga, he stated.

“We don’t understand...why these supplies have to go through Baghdad [first],” Barzani questioned.

The Chancellor added that Peshmerga resources are further depleted nearly every day and explained that as long as IS keeps control over Iraqi or Kurdish territories, they will be able to recruit more people to reorganize and launch attacks against the Kurdistan Region or elsewhere.

“If you compare ISIS today to when they began, of course, they are much stronger now…but if you compare this with a few months ago...they have lost more territory. I have no doubt that ISIS will be militarily defeated if the will is there and if the international community is fully engaged and sincere in defeating them,” Barzani added.

Barzani also touched upon IS' ideological roots, “We have to take a step backward and look at why ISIS is here; what are the causes that lead to the creation of ISIS? I think the roots of this problem are more political [than anything else].”

“The vacuums that these political failures left behind economically, socially, and [regarding] security led to the creation of this sort of organization. If ISIS is defeated but the roots of the problems are not addressed and solved, similar groups may appear in the future,“ Barzani concluded.

Reporting by Mewan Dolamari

Editing by Benjamin Kweskin and Karzan Sulaivany