Peshmerga defuse over 11,000 IEDs

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Since the beginning of the war with the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq, the Kurdish Peshmerga Engineering Team has defused over 11,000 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), officials stated on Wednesday.

Head of Engineering Team for Defusing IEDs, Peshkawt Zahir, told Kurdistan24 that the team has cleared and defused 11,060 IEDs in northern Iraq.

Zahir also mentioned that the Engineering Team has confiscated 845 bombs, destroyed 84 armored vehicles, cleared 215 houses, and 105km (66 miles) of road and six underground tunnels.

“The team members cannot make even one mistake...it is likely to end their life,” Zahir emphasizes. “Our job is extremely risky.”

Despite the Engineering Team's success, they are under-resourced and under-equipped.

A Peshmerga Commander, Sihad Barzani, told Kurdistan24 that the international coalition does not provide sufficient aid to the Peshmerga Engineering Team.

“We call on the international coalition and all other countries to provide military aid to Peshmerga in general and the Engineering Team in particular,” Barzani said.

Zahir, discussing the progression of IS tactics, explained that in the early days of the war, IS made simple, rudimentary IEDs, “They use more modern techniques in planting IEDs because they realized that Peshmerga can easily defuse their bombs.”

“Nothing is challenging for our team. Fortunately, we have acquired advanced skills in foiling IEDs,” he concluded.

Kurdistan Region borders over 1,000 km (622 miles) with IS in northern Iraq. Peshmerga forces are considered one of the most efficient ground forces against IS and have liberated large swaths of territories from the extremists who overran large parts of Iraq in summer 2014.

Reporting by Mewan Dolamari
Editing by Benjamin Kweskin and Ava Homa