Peshmerga complete personal protection, riot-control training provided by coalition

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Peshmerga on Wednesday finished an eight-week training session for personal protection and riot control provided by a US-led coalition member.

“Twenty-five Peshmerga took part in the training which lasted eight weeks,” Amin Younis, a Peshmerga officer who participated in the training, told Kurdistan 24.

“The Peshmerga fighters were trained by Italian military advisers who are part of the Global Coalition to defeat the Islamic State (IS),” Younis explained.

He added that part of the training focused on protective detail abilities, which will allow the graduates to provide security for high-level individuals in the Kurdistan Region, notably Consuls and senior diplomats in Erbil.

There are over 38 foreign consulate and representative offices in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region, including from the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

The Peshmerga officer noted that the training included riot control exercises on how to combat and manage protests in the Kurdistan Region in case demonstrations turn to violence.

Kurdistan 24 approached Italian advisers during the graduation ceremony in Erbil, but they refused to provide any comments.

Italy is one of the coalition members which has been training thousands of Peshmerga fighters since the fight against the Islamic State began in 2014.

Editing by Nadia Riva