New selection procedure ready for Peshmerga unification: Dutch Military Advisor 

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Captain Bart van den Heuvel, a senior Dutch military advisor to the Ministry of Peshmerga, told Kurdistan 24 on Monday that the ministry has a new selection procedure ready to recruit Peshmerga forces. 

On Sunday, Captain van den Heuvel met with Brigadier General Nabaz Salah, Director of the Reform Directorate of the Ministry of Peshmerga, and Brigadier General Hikmat Omar, General Director of the Individuals and Volunteers Directorate of the ministry. 

In a statement, the Ministry of Peshmerga said that the meeting focused on organizing and formulating a suitable mechanism by the General Directorate of Individuals and Volunteers, which the Peshmerga ministry is conducting, for unifying Unit 70 (linked to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) and Unit 80 (linked to the Kurdistan Democratic Party) under the umbrella of the Peshmerga ministry.

The commander of the 21st Infantry Brigade and the commanders of the brigade's regiments were also present in the meeting.

Attendees noted the importance of this work, calling it a strong step by the KRG toward implementing Peshmerga reform and an important phase of unification. 

Peshmerga reform and unification aim to create a strong and unified national force for the Kurdistan Region. 

Captain van den Heuvel told Kurdistan 24 that there is a "selection procedure ready, which we are now going to try for the first time with the 21st RGB (unified Regional Guard Brigades)."

"Then we can see if this works and, if necessary, propose and implement small adjustments," he added.

The Ministry of Peshmerga's goal is to apply this procedure to all Peshmerga forces eventually. 

"This concerns new recruits and Peshmerga, who come along with units that will be brought under the Ministry of Peshmerga," Captain van den Heuvel said. 

"This should also prevent disabled and/or injured Peshmerga from being brought under the Ministry of Peshmerga while they belong under other arrangements," he concluded.

The Netherlands, the US, the UK, and Germany form the Multi-National Advisory Group (MNAG) that supports the project to establish a modern, affordable, and accountable Peshmerga force under the control of the KRG instead of partisan units.