Masrour Barzani: Peshmerga fight IS without being paid

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A senior Kurdish official expressed concern on Sunday, stating that Kurdish Peshmerga fighters battling the Islamic State (IS) have not been paid for at least four months.

In an interview with American news network CBS, Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) Chancellor Masrour Barzani pointed out that Peshmerga forces are fighting the biggest terrorist organization on behalf of the entire world.

“The Kurds are not only fighting for themselves but for the rest of the world,” Barzani told CBS News.

The Kurdistan Region is currently suffering from a critical financial crisis due to the budget cut in 2014 from the Iraqi Federal Government, as well as the dramatic fall in oil prices internationally.

Peshmerga, who are fighting extremists along a 1000 km (622 miles) long border, "have not been paid for at least four months,” Barzani stated.

“They believe in the cause [of fighting IS],” he continued. “But, they have families; they have people to take care of, and we don’t know how much longer they can stand in the front lines without being paid.”

Moreover, the Kurdistan Region is home to 1.8 million refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) which is a substantial financial burden on the Region’s already suffering economic crisis.

“It is [a large burden], absolutely. It has increased the population of Kurdistan by almost 30 percent,” Barzani added.

In another part of the interview, the Chancellor touched upon the threat of Mosul dam’s collapse and how it will affect Mosul and Baghdad.

“[A] large part of Mosul will be flooded, in [a] matter of a few hours, and then anything on the way, all the way to Baghdad; it would take a few days to reach Baghdad, but it would be flooded, everything on the way,” Barzani told CBS News.

Reporting by Mewan Dolamari
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany and Ava Homa