German Inspector General visits German armed forces in Iraq

“After the mandate was extended, he spoke to German soldiers on the ground in Baghdad, Al Asad and Erbil.”
Inspector General of the Armed Forces Gen. Eberhard Zorn is on a three-days visit to Iraq (Photo: Bundeswehr im Einsatz/Twitter)
Inspector General of the Armed Forces Gen. Eberhard Zorn is on a three-days visit to Iraq (Photo: Bundeswehr im Einsatz/Twitter)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Eberhard Zorn, the Inspector General of the German Armed Forces, is visiting German troops in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq after Germany’s parliament voted to extend the deployment of the German Army in Iraq by nine months on Friday

“After the mandate was extended, he spoke to German soldiers on the ground in Baghdad, Al Asad (airbase) and Erbil,” tweeted the official account of the German Joint Forces Operations Command.

“At the beginning of next week I will tweet more about the impressions of my mission trip,” Zorn tweeted, adding that he had good and open conversations with the German soldiers in Iraq.

“Thank you very much for visiting our locations in Iraq, thank you for your interest,” Colonel Markus Meyer, Commander of the German military forces in Iraq, tweeted.

Read More: Germany' still committed to the safety and stability of Kurdistan Region': Col. Markus Meyer

A large majority of German MPs voted on Friday for a mandate presented by the federal government to keep German troops in Iraq, the German n-tv news channel reported.

Read More: German parliament votes to keep troops in Iraq

A total of 555 members of parliament voted in favor of the extensions, while 110 voted against and a single MP abstained.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani “strongly” welcomed the decision.

“This mandate, and the support of the Global Coalition, is critical to the war on ISIS and training of Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi Army,” he tweeted.

The German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht visited German armed forces in the Kurdistan Region on Jan. 9, 2022, where she met with President Nechirvan Barzani.

Read More: German defense minister praises Kurdistan's role in anti-ISIS fight

Germany is part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS). It trained and supplied the Kurdish Peshmerga forces with military equipment, including MILAN anti-tank missiles, during the height of the war against ISIS. It's also a member of the NATO mission in Baghdad and supports the unification of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the Kurdistan Region.

Germany has deployed around 100 soldiers in the fight against ISIS. A number of German soldiers are still stationed in the Kurdistan Region.