Anti-IS coalition supervise plan to upgrade Peshmerga forces: Official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Acting Minister of Peshmerga on Monday met with commanders and representatives of the Global Coalition against the Islamic State (IS) to discuss reforms in the Peshmerga Ministry.

Karim Sinjari, the KRG’s Acting Minister of Peshmerga, sat with Peshmerga commanders and representatives of the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom in Erbil to discuss the process of reorganizing the Peshmerga forces.

During the meeting, the Peshmerga Ministry’s Board of Reform presented the reform mechanism that consists of five phases, a statement from the Ministry read.

After discussions and an exchange of ideas between Peshmerga officials and the representatives of the coalition—who are supervising the implementation of the reform plan—Sinjari endorsed the program, the statement added.

Brigadier General Hazhar Omer, the Director of Coordination and Relations for the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs, told Kurdistan 24 the 35-point reform plan had been prepared about eight months ago and would include a “comprehensive improvement” among the Kurdish forces.

The attendees agreed to prioritize a few points during the initial phase which include: writing a security strategy for the Kurdistan Region and a military strategy for the Peshmerga; unifying and reorganizing the Peshmerga brigades; implementing the biometric system for registering public employees, and the full implementation of the Ministry’s rules and regulations.

“The anti-IS coalition has expressed willingness to support our efforts,” the Peshmerga official said, adding the coalition would also fund the Peshmerga projects and continue training the Kurdish fighters in the future.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany