Germany supports Peshmerga reform, says German commander

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Col. Lars Persikowsk, Commander of German Forces - Capacity Building in Iraq and Kurdistan, on Tuesday announced in a presser that “Germany is supporting the security sector reform of the Peshmerga. So, the overall idea is to integrate the 70s and 80s forces into a regular force under the control of the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs (MOPA).”

“Germany is operating in this region since 2015 and we are operating on two pillars. The first pillar is supporting the local forces in the fight against Daesh and the other pillar is that we support the local forces in the security sector reform and capacity building and this is what we do mainly with the Kurdish forces,” the commander stated.

Persikowsk also revealed that their contribution to the Peshmerga reform is "threefold so first thing is we built the Peshmerga hospital in the vicinity of Erbil and by this, we enhanced the capability of Peshmerga to have medical treatment… the second thing we are concentrating on is logistic support… third thing we are concentrating on is that we are advising MOPA so in the ministry themselves the way we think the Peshmerga reform would best work.”

He mentioned that it's very important for them to enhance stability in the region.

"Good coordination between Iraqi forces and Peshmerga forces is vital and I talked with the general about this topic already and he told me that there is a good relationship at least here in the region,” he added and noted, “This is what we are here for to help the Kurdish people and the Iraqi people to fight against Daesh so that this growing of Daesh is hindered.”

Having been a member of the US-led Coalition to Defeat ISIS, Germany has made numerous contributions to Peshmerga forces through weapon supplies and training.

One of the significant military contributions made by Germany to the Kurdish forces was the provision of an anti-tank missile system, known as MILAN, which had effectively enabled the Peshmerga forces to fight back against ISIS militants, the Region’s top leaders have said on several occasions.