Kurdistan PM calls for speeding up reforms in Peshmerga Ministry

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday held a videoconference meeting with his cabinet's Minister of Peshmerga Affairs, Shorish Ismael, to discuss key reforms in the ministry.

Highlighting the significant role of the Peshmerga forces in protecting the Kurdistan Region, Barzani underlined the importance of conducting reforms in the ministry to modernize its structure, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's press office.

Ismael briefed Prime Minister Barzani on ongoing reforms in the ministry, with both officials agreeing to set a timeline "to organise and implement the reforms in accordance with the Reform Law and efforts with the Global Coalition, including unifying accounting units, staff and structural reorganisation, ranks, pensions, and martyrs and the disabled."

The Peshmerga operate as the defense forces of the autonomous Kurdistan Region, and continues to work in coordination with Coalition forces in the fight against the so-called Islamic State.

A key objective of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has long been to move away from the current division of Peshmerga forces between the two major Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), while institutionalizing a unified command structure.

There are about 240,000 Peshmerga fighters in the Kurdistan Region. Although some have been unified under the umbrella of the Peshmerga Ministry, the majority remain divided, taking orders mainly from the political parties to which they belong.

In the battles against the Islamic State, the Peshmerga forces lost around 2,000 members, and some 12,000 fighters were injured, according to ministry figures.

Editing by Khrush Najari