Love for Kurdistan warms Peshmerga in winter

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) – Kurdish Peshmerga fighters stated on Sunday that the coldness of winter does not affect the high morale of Peshmerga forces on the front lines defending the Kurdistan Region against the Islamic State (IS).

Peshmerga forces have been fighting IS insurgents since June 2014. As winter begins, IS insurgents take advantage of the bad weather to attack Peshmerga front lines.

On Sunday night, Khaled Balabarz, a Peshmerga Commander stationed along the Gwer front, west of Mosul told K24, "Our love for Kurdistan [Region] is the main reason that we as Peshmerga are here. We are here to defend Kurdistan against the most barbaric terrorist organization [IS] in the world."

He continued, "Our love for Kurdistan has led us to be ready 24/7 in the front lines, without having any heat or fires during this cold weather. We will fight terrorists [IS] day and night."

Balabarz emphasized, "The high morale of Peshmerga fighters will never be affected by coldness or anything in the fight against Daesh [IS]."

Ali Hussein is also a Peshmerga fighter along the Gwer front, and pointed out that "no matter if it is cold or hot, Peshmerga always remain strong in defending Kurdistan."

"We are fighting for the land and ethnicity; coldness will not affect our high morale in fighting Daesh," Hussein said.

Peshmerga forces defend their border-- over 1,000 kilometers (622 miles) with IS across northern Iraq. Peshmerga forces, supported by the U.S. and coalition airstrikes continuously repel all IS attacks.