Belgium’s Flanders to treat group of wounded Peshmerga: KRG

The Minister-President of the Flemish Region in Belgium decided to provide medical treatment to some Peshmerga soldiers wounded in the battle against the Islamic State (IS), a Kurdish official revealed on Wednesday.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Minister-President of the Flemish Region in Belgium decided to provide medical treatment to some Peshmerga soldiers wounded in the battle against the Islamic State (IS), a Kurdish official revealed on Wednesday.

The Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to the European Union Dellawar Ajgeiy stated Geert Bourgeois, the Minister-President of Flanders, decided to take a group of injured Peshmerga to Belgium for medical treatment.

Ajgeiy mentioned Bourgeois’ decision was made during his ministerial meeting in the Flemish Region of Belgium.

“In the meeting, he explained the mechanism of taking the wounded Peshmerga in detail,” the KRG Representative stated.

“A medical delegation from Flanders is expected to visit the Kurdistan Region soon to choose some of the wounded Peshmerga soldiers,” he continued.

Ajgeiy also noted the KRG would continue to seek more support from the EU for treating the injured Peshmerga forces.

Since the emergence of IS in northern Iraq in June 2014, over 1,500 Peshmerga soldiers have lost their lives and 9,000 more injured.

Turkey has been one of the supportive countries regarding treatment of wounded Peshmerga troops in the past two years.

Kurdish officials have previously stated the number of casualties would be much less if the international community provided more military support to the Kurdistan Region in the fight against the insurgent group.

In June 2014, the Iraqi army collapsed and fled to the Kurdistan Region.

Peshmerga forces, with their old weapons and lack of ammunition, fought against the extremist group with aerial support from the US-led coalition warplanes.

Moreover, the Kurdish forces are often labeled one of the most efficient ground units defeating IS.

“We fight the biggest terrorist organization on behalf of the entire world,” a reminder Kurdish officials repeatedly give while complaining about the lack of military support from the international community.

 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany