Estonia to deploy over 100 troops to Erbil as part of anti-ISIS coalition

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – More than 100 Estonian soldiers will be deployed to the Kurdistan Region as part of the international coalition against ISIS, the country’s defense ministry announced.

Consisting of special operations forces, a logistics support element, and staff officers, the contingent will be deployed for six months in Erbil, according to the ministry’s statement, which was reported by the Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR News).

Estonian troops will join the 4,000 Coalition troops stationed at a base near the Erbil International Airport, and take responsibility for securing the military site, a role the Dutch army had previously held, according to the statement.

"The Allies proposed sending units to Iraq nearly two months ago. Now we are in a position to deploy our troops after completing the necessary trainings,” said Commander of the Estonian Defense Forces, General Martin Herem. 

Estonia, a NATO member since 2004, is also part of the 83-partner International Coalition to Defeat ISIS, led by the US since 2014.

The operation’s current mandate is to advise and support local security forces in the enduring defeat of the terror group, which once controlled a third of Iraq before its self-proclaimed caliphate was toppled in 2017 by Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi forces, with air support and training from the international coalition. 

Although ISIS has been territorially defeated, the remnants of the extremist organization still pose a threat to security forces and civilians, according to local authorities and Coalition forces.