UK details military support provided to Peshmerga

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The British government revealed on Tuesday that the UK has provided tons of non-lethal support, and other military aid to Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the fight against jihadists.

As part of the international coalition against the Islamic State (IS), the UK detailed its military aid provided so far to the Peshmerga in the battle against extremists in northern Iraq.

“To date, the UK has trained over 3,300 @KurdistanRegion #Peshmerga & over 11,000 #Iraq security forces,” the official Twitter account for UK Against Da’esh (IS) tweeted.

UK officials also mentioned that they have provided over 50 tons of non-lethal support and over 40 heavy machine guns to Peshmerga soldiers.

Peshmerga has been one of the most efficient ground units defeating IS in northern Iraq. The Kurdish forces protect over 1,000 km (600 miles) of the Kurdistan Region border from IS attacks.

According to the UK government, Peshmerga forces have received nearly half a million rounds of ammunition. Recently, Peshmerga forces complained to the UK for providing weapons but failing to resupply the troops with ammunition.

“There is one truth about this war: we need ammunition and weapons. We are in a terrible war with Da’esh, so for us not having ammunition is like having useless iron in our hands,” a Peshmerga fighter told The Telegraph on May 17, using the Arabic pejorative for IS.

“What are we going to do with [weapons] without ammunition?” He questioned.

Additionally, the UK also noted that the government has provided £600,000 (over USD $878,000) worth of military equipment to Peshmerga.

Kurdish officials have stated that Peshmerga fights IS on behalf of the entire world, but the military support that they receive is insufficient for such an important war.

Since 2014, it has been noted that IS extremists have confiscated heavy military equipment and weapons previously belonging to the Iraqi and Syrian armies.

Reporting by Mewan Dolamari
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany